Music Box Doll
by Renegade Seraph
Summary: Squinoa. Rinoa’s life of fun is ruined when her father hires SeeD to watch over her. Resolute never to change, Rinoa continually clashes with Squall, who is determined to follow his orders.
1. Seifer's New Car

**Music Box Doll**

**AU:Squinoa**. Rinoa's life of fun is ruined when her father hires SeeD to watch over her. Resolute never to change, Rinoa continually clashes with Squall, who is determined to follow his orders.

**Author's Note**: I'm kind of mixing up things in this fic. Where I live (UK) you have to be 17 to drive, 18 to drink/smoke, 16 to do pretty much everything else. Also, at 17 you could be working or in college, either way you would have finished school. In this fic Rinoa is still in 'school', but it's a higher education, and not mandatory. Probably waaay too much information there, but someone might be interested.

**Further Summary**: This is a story about the pressures of growing up, and how friends play a vital role in who we ultimately become. **Warning, this fic contains potentially triggering content, regarding characters rather reckless attitudes towards sex. Plus some rather frank, unromantic discussion on the same topic. Read at your risk! **This fic wont be for everyone.

_**Chapter One - Seifer's New Car**_

"I don't need looking after!" Rinoa shouted from the top of the stairs. She looked down upon her father who was standing at the bottom of the stairs. She knew that she wasn't making things any better for herself, but she couldn't help it, her father always made her so mad.

"Rinoa!" he called exasperated.

Rinoa turned on her heel and stomped into her room, slamming the door behind her. She didn't know why her father was suddenly so interested in her life, it wasn't so long ago that he would have given anything for her to go out of the house.

She had never been much of social butterfly, mostly she had spent her time reading books and hiding away in her room. But ever since they had moved to Deling City, and Rinoa had begun studying in Deling High, she had finally found some friends.

On her first day, Rinoa had walked through the corridors of the school feeling dreadfully out of place. Her hair clearly wasn't very fashionable, tied back tightly into a ponytail, and her clothes much too childish. She had caught sight of her reflection in a glass door, and had looked away again. She looked nothing like the girls she had just passed by.

In her first class, English Literature, she had arrived early and had sat at the side of the classroom, hoping that she wasn't taking anybody's place. The class had begun to fill a few minutes before it was due to start, and she had found herself sitting next to a girl who had styled her hair to be flicked up at the ends.

"You're new to the class?" the girl had asked.

Rinoa nodded.

"We annotated this poem last time," the girl said handing over her work for Rinoa to look at. "My name's Selphie by the way."

Rinoa's eyes had skimmed over the poem and the haphazard notes all over it, she soon realised that she was desperately behind in her work. She had put the paper on the desk, and had tried not to look nervous.

At the end of the day, she had come away from the school with a mountain of books, papers, and assignments, but also what she hoped was a friend.

However it seemed her father did not approve of Selphie, or rather, the company Selphie liked to keep, and subsequently who Rinoa became friends with. His daughter had gone from homebody to wild child in a matter of weeks, and he was not happy.

Rinoa stared out of her window, her father would be no doubt locking the door now. Putting the deadlock on and taking away the key, hoping that that would be enough to keep his daughter inside. Rinoa took her phone and began typing a message to Selphie.

_Can't go out 2nite, Dad locked the door again. He's really angry. Rinoa Xx_

She sent the text then returned to staring out of the window, a few seconds later her phone bleeped.

_Aww, what? But Seifer said he'd pick us up. He has a new car! Come on. _

Rinoa bit her lip, she could always sneak out, she'd done it before. But never when her father had bolted the door, she'd always respected his final word. But if she didn't go, her friends might think she couldn't be bothered with them anymore. Plus, Seifer had sent her a text earlier in the day, to which she hadn't replied out of shyness. Selphie was the one that spoke to the boys.

Rinoa opened her message box to read Seifer's message once more.

_Hey Babe, how's U? Can't wait to take you out in my new car. X_

She blushed as she closed his message, he'd put a kiss on the end. He'd never done that before. In fact he'd never actually text her before, he always sent messages to Selphie. But since Selphie had started going out with Irvine, he'd been more attentive.

Rinoa opened Selphie's message again to reply.

_Ok, I'll sneak out. My dad will kill me tho. What time is Seifer getting here? C U later. Rin._

_Hey Sweet that's awesome, 9pm. I'll make him stop down the road a bit. Sel._

Of course sneaking out was only half the problem, coming home was the difficult part. She never knew what state she would be in, or whether she would get caught. But she had devised what she hoped was a failsafe plan, tested through trial and error. She checked the clock, it was seven thirty, she had plenty of time to get ready if her father didn't call her down for dinner.

Rinoa ran a hand through her hair, and decided it was still Ok, and that she wouldn't have to wash it. Next she looked in her wardrobe and pushed her clothes this way and that on the rail, all the while wondering why she never had anything to wear.

Finally deciding on black jeans and a tight blue spaghetti strap top, Rinoa had just enough time to lay them out on her bed before her father shouted up to her.

"Rinoa, are you coming down for dinner?"

Rinoa grimaced, and then took a deep breath. It would be best not to make anymore trouble for herself.

"Yeah," she shouted. "In a sec!"

Rinoa pushed her food around on her plate, trying to hide it underneath the potatoes, hoping that her dad would think she was eating it. She hated going out a full stomach, it only made her feel bloated, and at worst, fat, and she was convinced that the slight bulge a meal made to her otherwise flat stomach was all too visible under her top.

Besides standing next to infuriatingly skinny Selphie didn't do much to boost her confidence. Luckily for Rinoa her father was paying her little attention, he was reading a letter with an important looking letterhead on the top. Rinoa scowled at it, it was something from his work.

He left her midway through the pudding, saying that he had to make a phone call. Rinoa sat staring at the fruit crumble, she hadn't touched it. Finally the maid came to clear the table.

Rinoa had never realised before they had moved that having a maid was something special. Or that not every home had it's own chef. She had been living in what she called a lie for so many years, only socialising with people her father chose for her. No wonder she thought, that she had never had any friends.

Rinoa checked her watch. It was twenty past eight now. Her father was unlikely to come back to the table, or to tell her goodnight, so Rinoa made her way back upstairs slowly, and locked her bedroom door. Once inside Rinoa began to panic, it always happened every time. She'd get butterflies in her stomach at the thought of going out with friends, as she just wasn't used to it.

She was usually completely overwhelmed with everything that happened, unable to flirt like Selphie, and often feeling like a lemon. She wondered why she was about to put herself through it all over again, when her heart was thudding in her chest. She was even more nervous tonight, and she dated her first jitters of the day to the moment she had received Seifer's text.

Pulling out her make-up bag, she knew it was too late to think up an excuse, she'd told Selphie she'd go, and now she'd have to. She hastily applied her foundation, eyeliner and mascara, and then checked the time. It was much earlier that she thought, and now she wished she had taken more care.

Next came the dilemma of choosing shoes, brown or black, heels or flats. If she wore heels and they ended up breaking into the old barn again up on Trotter's farm, she'd look like an idiot, equally if she wore flats and they snuck into a club, she'd feel underdressed.

In the end she chose the black boots with heels, and grabbed her coat before attempting to sneak outside. It was five to nine now, Seifer was most likely on his way, although he was usually late. She chose the back door leading onto the patio to sneak out from, then doubled back around the house to climb over the wall and onto the public pavement.

A red car zoomed by her, and came to a screeching stop a few yards further up. Not knowing whether it was for her, Rinoa hung back until she saw Selphie poke her head out of the back window and whistle at her. She blushed as she hurried towards them, she would have to sit in the front, next to Seifer.


	2. The Barn

**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews everyone! I'll keep it short this time, and give you a long chapter to make up for the super long Note on chapter one!

_**Chapter two -- The Barn**_

Seifer gave her a roguish smile, to which Rinoa could only manage a bashful one in return. She quickly looked away from him, and turned instead to Selphie and Irvine, who had claimed the backseats. Irvine had his arm around Selphie, it was permanently fixed there these days, but Selphie never seemed never to notice.

"Daddy let you out in the end, chick?" Selphie asked.

Rinoa knew Selphie was teasing her, but she didn't mind. It was only when it was Seifer that did it that she got tongue-tied, or annoyed when Irvine tried it on. Although, these days Irvine had pretty much given her up as a bad sport, and generally ignored her.

"No, I snuck out the patio doors," Rinoa said. She heard Seifer laugh.

"Oo rebel," he said mockingly.

Rinoa went silent, she had never been any good at arguments, even if they were only in jest. But Selphie had quickly picked up on this, and now saw it her mission to defend Rinoa whenever it wasn't her doing the teasing.

"Shut up Seifer, just because your parents don't care whether you go out or not."

Seifer took his hand away from the gear stick, which he was about to put into first, to clutch at his chest.

"Harsh, so very harsh," he said pretending to be heartbroken.

Selphie rolled her eyes. Caught up with laughing, Rinoa surprised herself by joining in.

"Hey, you promised me a drive in your car, are you going to drive, or are we just going to sit here all night?" Rinoa asked.

There was a moment of silence where no one knew whether Rinoa was joking or not, and Seifer looked momentarily stunned.

"Hey, don't you start," he warned jokingly, selecting first gear. "But if you want to see what this car can do…"

He shot forward before anyone was prepared, slamming the car into second, third and then fourth gear. The engine roared aggressively as they whipped by the stationary cars, in Rinoa's quiet well-behaved upmarket neighbourhood.

Selphie began laughing hysterically, but Rinoa clung to her seatbelt petrified. Every time they turned a corner Rinoa was convinced that they were about to die. She kept looking forwards, trying not to notice the speed in which they were passing by the houses. Any moment now they were bound to run into traffic, but would Seifer have time to stop?

The more dangerous the ride became, the more Selphie laughed. Rinoa was certain her fears were well founded when she heard Irvine voicing his concerns, but when Seifer turned off of the main streets and began heading out into the outskirts, Rinoa began to relax slightly. He was forced to slow down due to the bends in the road, but was still taking the corners like a rally driver.

He passed Rinoa a control of some kind and asked her choose some music. Worried she might break it, Rinoa nervously flicked though some channels. She hesitated on one, she knew the song it was an old favourite of hers, but clearly no one else liked it.

"No way are we listening to that," Irvine said unkindly. He took the control away from her without asking.

The music changed to something much louder, and with less words. It had been playing the last time they had gone to a club, Seifer had danced with her to this one. He had only danced with her once though, probably to stop her looking so unpopular. She wondered why she'd remembered the song.

"Oh oh baby," Selphie began singing. "Yeah yeah oooh!"

"Is there even a song that doesn't have the word baby in it?" Rinoa asked over the music.

"Sure," Selphie said. "No…wait…"

Seifer had turned the music down. Rinoa often came out with strange questions, it was something that made her interesting he thought, that and annoying. Selphie was struggling to think of an answer, humming parts of songs aloud.

"Do you actually care?" Seifer asked.

"Well…no, I suppose not," Rinoa replied sheepishly.

Rinoa turned to look forwards, feeling kind of stupid. She wondered what had made her say anything at all, or why Seifer was now grinning and casting her sideways glances, which she was choosing to ignore.

They reached the barn with the music still blaring. Selphie and her friends had been coming here for a while before Rinoa had shown up in their lives. The first time she had gone here with them, there had been more people. But she had never seen any of them again. They had been Seifer's friends she was told, none of them went to the same school that she did.

Selphie led the way to the barn, and threw open the old wooden door. Rinoa trailed behind, always last, never wanting to push herself forwards. Someone else must have discovered the place since their last visit, as there was now a rope hanging from one of the beams, in the form of a crude swing. There was also some empty beer bottles scattered around on the floor.

Rinoa soon realised that this was probably going to be one of those boring nights, where everyone would drink, Selphie would end up being sick, and she'd end up going home feeling cold and miserable. She tried to cheer herself up, so that she might contribute to the night, it wasn't their job to entertain her after all. But she still felt disappointed.

"Hey, who wants the first go?" Irvine said catching hold of the rope.

He held it out towards Rinoa, who shook her head.

"I'll do it!" Selphie volunteered taking the rope from her boyfriend.

Rinoa moved out of the way, and noticed that Seifer had done the same. He grinned at her, and she knew he was wondering how long it would be before Selphie hurt herself. He stepped closer to her until he was standing just a few inches away. Rinoa felt her face turning red.

"Why didn't you return my text?" he asked.

Rinoa looked up at him worried, but saw that he was smirking. He was trying to make her say something stupid like she normally did, like giving him compliments without realising.

Rinoa didn't know why he was still bothering with his joke though, he'd already shown off his car. Which she had to add, was very impressive.

"I didn't think the message was for me," she said, not knowing where she was taking the conversation. It would have been easier to have just said that she had forgotten. He looked confused. "I thought you'd sent it to the wrong number."

A look of understanding passed over Seifer's face before he began grinning.

"Why would you think that?"

Rinoa looked at Selphie, she was still arguing with Irvine about how far to swing on the rope.

"Because you've never text me before," Rinoa said. It was a truthful reply this time, and her voice sounded sincerely innocent.

It was her tone of voice that made Seifer rethink what he was going to say next. He was about to accuse her of playing hard to get, ignoring him on purpose, but he quickly saw that she wasn't even aware that he liked her. He would have to start again.

"Well," he said replacing his grin with a look of sincerity. "Perhaps I've now realised the mistake I made."

Rinoa gazed at him puzzled. If she was supposed to know what that meant, then she was at a loss. He waited for her to say something, but not wanting to say anymore himself at present, shouted over to Selphie.

"Just get on with it Sel, Irvine wants to look up your skirt!"

The look of outrage on Selphie's face made Rinoa laugh. Irvine was blushing a deep red, as if he had been thinking along those lines himself, and it was good to see Irvine uncomfortable for a change, as it was usually her.

"You're a pervert Seifer," Selphie said indignant, but she ordered Irvine to go stand to the side regardless.

Only Selphie could manage to make swinging on a rope, hanging from a beam, look easy. But after the excitement of the rope swing ended, they sat in a circle on the floor and passed around the cans of larger.

"I don't like this," Selphie said before taking another large swig.

"Then give it to me," Irvine said. Selphie hugged the can away from him.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to drink it. I just think that, since I'm no longer the minority, Seifer should buy me and Rinoa alcopops."

Rinoa agreed, but drank from her can as if she wasn't really bothered. Seifer refused to buy what he called 'girls drinks' because they made him look like a sissy, or so he said.

"I'll only buy them is Rinoa wants them," Seifer declared reclining back into more comfortable pose.

Everyone looked at Rinoa. Selphie was begging her to say yes, but she was so grateful that Seifer had thought to buy her anything at all, that she didn't want to throw it all back in his face.She thought Irvine was looking at her oddly, as if he knew something she didn't.

"Well," she said, stretching out the word. "I wouldn't mind."

"Yes!" Selphie yelled before Rinoa could say anymore, or apologise. "See, two against one, now you have to by something nice."

Seifer shrugged.

"Sure," he said, then added under his breath, "If it'll shut you up."

Rinoa caught his comment and looked down. She hadn't really minded what she drank, as long as she was included. She was thankful at least that Seifer wasn't looking at her the way he was looking at Selphie, with annoyance.

"So, lets play truth or dare!" Selphie said, repositioning herself so that she was kneeling. "We can use one of these old bottles."

Rinoa hated truth or dare, she always tried to think of an excuse to not play, but she wouldn't be able to today, as there was no bathroom to go and hide in. It wasn't that she didn't want to hear what others had to say, just that she had nothing interesting or shocking to share. Her innocence made her pathetic in her eyes, and she was sure the others would laugh if they found out.

She would choose dare, and hope that they were kind to her.

"Sel we play that too much," Irvine complained. "How about we go have another look at Seifer's car?"

It took a while before Selphie worked out what he wanted, and she abandoned Rinoa to Seifer, whilst she disappeared with her boyfriend, to engage in the kissing that they never managed in the daytime.

Rinoa took another sip, then decided the night might go by quicker if she just drained the whole can and began a new one. Seifer seemed only happy to oblige her, by opening the next can for her.

"Thanks," Rinoa said taking the drink. She blushed under his gaze.

Ever since she had been introduced to Seifer she had thought he was cute. She had hoped that he might think the same about her, but all the time that they had hung out together, he had never tried to get to know her. But now that Selphie and Irvine tended to disappear together every night, she supposed there was no one else to talk to.

"Do you have a favourite drink?" he asked.

Rinoa frowned.

"Something other than lager?" he clarified.

Rinoa felt the can shaking in her hand. Why was she so nervous? He was only asking her what drinks he should bring next time. Except, Rinoa had never had an opportunity to try anything other than what her new friends drank, and didn't have an answer.

"Oh you know, anything," she said, hoping that she sounded knowledgeable about the world of alcohol.

He smirked knowingly.

"That new car cost me a fortune, so lets go break up those two," he suggested. "Before they damage something."

Rinoa smiled, happy to be doing something other than racking her brains for something to say.

Selphie and Irvine had managed to steam up the windows so much, that Seifer had to turn on the heater before they could get going. Although now that they had an audience the two in the back curbed their enthusiasm for each other a little, although not enough to spare Rinoa her blushes.

Rinoa sighed, tonight had been a waste of time, but at least she had gotten to see Seifer's new car, and be (as far as she knew) the first girl to sit in the front seat. Before they dropped Rinoa home, they stopped for the obligatory cheeseburger from the late closing takeaway.

Rinoa wondered sometimes how boys could manage to eat so much, and how Selphie could still eat chips with cheese and still be skinny. However the alcohol in her blood was screaming out for fast food, and Rinoa obliged it with chips.

When they stopped outside of her house, Seifer cut the engine and got out of the car. Panicking that he was about to start being loud and cause her father to come investigating, Rinoa hurried around the car to attempt to tell him to be quiet.

"Coming out tomorrow?" he asked shutting the car door on the others in the back.

"You could have asked me that in the car."

She didn't mean to sound reproachful, but if her father happened to look out of the window now, she'd be in more trouble than she'd ever been.

"If I text you later, will you text back?" he asked.

Rinoa nodded, keen to get moving, and for her friends to get gone.

"Yeah," she said, not really knowing what she was agreeing to. "Sure. I got to go."

She began the walk to the gate, then crossed onto the grass to hide the sound her boots made on the path. She heard the car start, and leave. With her friends no longer able to give her away, Rinoa relaxed.

She began to think over Seifer's request, and was about to smile, when opening the patio door she bumped into her father.


	3. Caught

**A/N: **Thank you to Hououza, Freyjadour, Jayliyah and Cerulean Crystal for reviewing! To answer some questions: Squall will arrive soon. I want to establish how Rinoa is living before he shows up, so that it's obvious how much he changes things. And Seifer isn't bad, he's just your average eighteen year old boy, the kind you know you shouldn't get involved with, but do anyway.

_Chapter Four_

Rinoa's father looked just as surprised as Rinoa to meet unexpectedly at one in the morning. Rinoa observed his wrinkled shirt and missing tie, and realised that he must have been working late. The fact that he hadn't even realised that she was missing added to his anger. Not only was he now angry with Rinoa for disobeying him, he was equally angry at himself for not even noticing that his only daughter wasn't in the house.

The shock finally wore off, and Rinoa attempted to sneak past him and up to her room before the shouting began. He followed her to the bottom of the stairs, all the while holding back his anger in order to assess the situation.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asked, his voice much louder and sharper than usual.

Rinoa sat down on the bottom step and pulled off her boots. She wouldn't answer him if she could help it, his anger always passed quicker if she stayed silent. He'd continue to shout until he had nothing to say but to send her to her room.

"Well?"

Rinoa winced. He wasn't about to be so easily ignored.

"With my friends," Rinoa said sarcastically.

"Have you been drinking?"

Rinoa paused, she was underage, the answer should be no. But she couldn't make herself lie.

"Yes."

He turned to look away from her, and she could feel the disappointment in the air. She didn't understand why he wasn't shouting anymore. In the silence, all that Rinoa could feel was immense guilt.

"Was it that boy who brought you home? That Seifer?" he asked.

Rinoa nodded.

"Had he been drinking too?"

Rinoa nodded again. She felt like crying now, she had been so stupid. To get into a car with people who had all be drinking was the most stupid thing she could do. But they were her friends, the only friends she had, or had ever had, and she wasn't in a position to pick and chose.

Seifer's driving hadn't been all that safe, and he liked to show off, especially with his new car. But he wasn't intentionally putting them in danger. Rinoa hung her head, she knew how dumb that reasoning was also.

Her father had closed his eyes, and his shoulders drooped in desperation.

"I've not paid you much attention since we moved here," he said.

Rinoa looked up, her eyes were filled with tears.

"It's not your fault…" she said. She could take the disappointment that was aimed at her, but she didn't want her dad blaming himself.

"I'm driving you to school tomorrow. We'll forget this ever happened, and you wont see these friends again."

"But…"

"Just get upstairs, I don't want to see you until tomorrow."

* * *

Rinoa closed her bedroom door and allowed herself to cry. She lay face down on her bed, muffling he tears in her pillow. She heard her phone bleep, but ignored it, too preoccupied with her sobs. Finally after she had given herself a headache from restraining her sobs, Rinoa forced herself into the bathroom.

After washing her face, and removing all her smudged mascara, Rinoa returned to her room and grabbed her bag. Her phone was showing one message. She bit her lip, it was bound to be Seifer, but she wasn't really sure if she wanted to know what it said.

She flipped her phone open quickly, her heartbeat racing, but was instantly disappointed. The message was from Selphie.

_Hey chick, get home ok? Sel. _

Rinoa closed her phone felling stupid. How could she have thought Seifer would actually text her? He'd probably just been joking again when he'd stopped her outside of his car. Opening her phone once more Rinoa replied to Selphie. Once that was done, she put her phone on her bedside table and turned off the light.

Rinoa lay in the dark for a moment, positive that she would never sleep. The alcohol in her blood was making her restless, and she felt uncomfortable. The ceiling was illuminated when her phone bleeped, and she grabbed it a little too eagerly to read 'one message' on the display.

This time it was Seifer.

_When can I take you out in my car again?_

Rinoa frowned, what kind of message was that? She'd already seen his car.

_We're goin out 2morrow. Tho I might not b able 2._

Rinoa received her reply almost seconds after she sent her message. She smiled, he'd been waiting for her message.

_Why? And I meant, on your own. _

Rinoa blushed and lay back down. She smiled into the dark, and turned onto her stomach. She wondered whether she should reply or keep him waiting, but fear that he might think she wasn't interested drove her to text back.

_My dad won't let me go out with anyone. XX_

Rinoa waited for a reply, but none came, and after five minutes she put her phone on the table and lay back down again. Feeling ignored, she wished that she had been braver, and had ignored him first.

* * *

Rinoa's alarm sounded what seemed like moments after she had closed her eyes. But rather than hit the snooze button as usual, she took her phone and checked for messages. There were none.

Her English literature essay was two hundred words too short, but she would have to hand it in today. She knew she would get a terrible mark, again, but it was a small price to pay for having friends.

As she ate her toast on the way to the car, Rinoa waited nervously for her father to say something further on her disobedience last night, he stayed silent. The silence gave her a perfect opportunity to plan how she was going to sneak out of the house tonight.

Selphie was eager to see her, they met in the English literature classroom ahead of everyone else. Selphie was busy scribbling the final parts of her essay when Rinoa walked in.

"Hey," Selphie said cheerfully. "Did you finish this?" she asked indicating the essay.

Rinoa shrugged her bag from her shoulder and took her seat. How Selphie could be so cheerful after a late night was anyone's guess.

"No, but I'm going to hand it in anyway."

Selphie nodded. Rinoa knew she was waiting for her to hand over her essay for her to look at, but Rinoa kept it firmly in her bag. With no essay to copy, Selphie pushed hers away and grinned.

"So…" she said smiling. "What did Seifer say to you last night? You know, when you were outside the car."

Rinoa blushed and pulled her bag back on her lap and began rummaging, trying to hide her nervousness.

"He asked if I was going out with you all tonight. Then he said he'd text me."

"And did he?" Selphie asked.

Rinoa knew she couldn't speak anymore with her face going so red that she looked like she'd been caught in the sun, so instead she handed Selphie her mobile, so that Selphie could read the messages for herself.

Selphie looked up from the messages, but her expression was not the one Rinoa expected.

"I think you should be careful Rin," she said handing the phone back.

"Why?" was all that Rinoa could manage to say, too surprised to think of anything else.

"Because he's older than you."

"By a year!" Rinoa protested.

"Even so…just go slow."

Rinoa had a feeling that Selphie was keeping something from her, but she didn't really want to hear it. Seifer was the only man who had ever looked at her, and she wasn't about to give up on a hope that they might be something to each other one day.


	4. Police!

**A/n:** WARNING this chapter contains characters talking about sex, gasp! Stop reading at the line break, and skip to the next line break if you do not wish to read that part of the story. Also, I noticed I labelled the last chapter as chapter four, when it was actually chapter three, so please ignore that.

Thank you so much to L.B.Dreamer5914, Hououza, Freyjadour, Cerulean Crystal and Yuleen75.

**Chapter Four**

Selphie hadn't mentioned anything more about Seifer throughout the day, and as soon as Rinoa had left her photography class, she'd seen her father parked on the road waiting for her. Selphie was waiting a little further down the road, she was speaking on her phone, and rummaging in her bag.

Rinoa tried to catch her friend's eye before she climbed into her father's car, but Selphie didn't look her way.

"Hi dad," Rinoa said as she slung her bag onto the floor of the car and reached for her seatbelt.

"Good day?" he enquired, his voice sounding awkward. He never picked her up from school and they rarely ever made small talk.

"Yeah, I developed that film today, and made some prints," Rinoa said watching Selphie disappearing into the distance as they drove along.

"Good," her father replied as if that was plenty of information. "I'm having some people over tonight, you're welcome to join us at dinner, or I can make your excuses."

Rinoa guessed that he must be feeling guilty still, and was making a conscious effort to be nicer to her. Clearly he was still blaming himself, but rather than feel bad, Rinoa thought she might as well make the most of it. She hated social dinners, they made her too nervous to eat anything and she always ended up leaving the table early.

"Thanks, but I've got a lot of work to do. I have an essay on how the weather reflects the moods of the characters," Rinoa lied, she'd in fact handed that essay in today. "For English Lit."

Her father nodded, pleased that she was taking an interest in her school work at last.

"I'll give you some money for a takeaway then," he said.

Rinoa smiled in thanks, he really was trying to be nice.

Once at home, Rinoa waited as her father pulled some notes from his wallet and handed them over. Rinoa thanked him and pocketed the cash, her money had been getting pretty low lately, what with going out so much with Selphie. Keeping up the charade of ordering a takeaway, Rinoa went to the kitchen and found the take out menus.

"I'll phone for one later," Rinoa said as she passed her father on in the hallway, before hurrying up to her room.

Not yet knowing how she was going to manage to sneak out tonight, Rinoa emptied her school bag onto her bed. It was Friday, and the lectures always liked to pile on the homework over the weekend.

English Literature was annotating more poems, photography wanted pictures of nature, law had thankfully let her off, and maths had more problems for her to solve. She dragged out her maths book and stared at the numbers. She'd only taken up the subject because her father had forced her to, she much preferred poems and books.

Maths never took too long to finish, she could only get the answer right or wrong. The rest was another matter. The phone rang as she tapped her pen on the book, and she welcomed the interruption.

Selphie's name was flashing on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rin, are you coming out tonight? I think we're going back to the barn. Seifer's bringing some other friends, so Irvine is going to drive tonight."

Rinoa paused before she answered, she wondered whether it might be better just to stay in and get that takeaway, but she also wanted to see Seifer. She needed to know whether she was simply making things up in her mind, or whether he'd want to talk to her again tonight.

"I got caught last night Selph," Rinoa said quietly so that her voice wouldn't carry outside of her room.

"What? You didn't tell me that!"

"I know, but now my dad is being really nice and he's got people coming over tonight, I don't know if I can get out of the house."

There was silence as Selphie thought, Rinoa half hoped Selphie would give up tonight and suggest they went out tomorrow instead.

"But you have to! Seifer has all these people coming, and I don't know any of them. Please?"

Rinoa bit her lip. She knew she was going to regret her reply as soon as she hung up the phone, whatever she said. If she was caught again she knew her father wouldn't be acting like he was at the moment.

"Ok, I'll try. Are you sure we're going to the barn, because I'll wear flats if we are."

"Yeah the barn," Selphie confirmed. "Yay, it's going to be so fun! I'll tell Irvine to come round at seven."

"Alright, I'll see you," Rinoa said before ending the call.

Seven didn't leave her much time. Grabbing a menu, Rinoa ordered some noodles, the cheapest thing there, and headed for the shower. She rushed her beauty regime in order to answer the doorbell and pay for her food. She smiled at her dad who was sitting in the kitchen, and grabbed a fork.

"I'm going up to my room," Rinoa said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Her father nodded, but he was once again buried in post he hadn't yet opened, and didn't reply.

So far so good Rinoa thought.

Irvine arrived on time, she knew he was waiting because Selphie had text her to say they were outside. Sneaking down the stairs, her bag over her shoulder and shoes in hand, Rinoa crossed the hallway and crept into the downstairs toilet.

Replacing her shoes on her feet, she threw her bag out of the small window and attempted to follow suit. Standing on the toilet she pushed herself through the window headfirst. She regretted her decision when she landed hard on her outstretched hands and crumpled onto the floor.

Pushing herself up and onwards before the pain kicked on, Rinoa reached Irvine's car out of breath.

"What happened to you?" Irvine asked as she jumped into the back.

"Climbed out a window," Rinoa said, her chest heaving and her hair a mess.

Irvine laughed, but it was not an including laugh, Rinoa knew he thought she was a joke. Selphie gave her a genuine smile, and Rinoa found herself forgiving her at once for having such a rude boyfriend.

Irvine drove much safer than Seifer, and Rinoa had no cause to be alarmed on the journey. The two in the front were very quiet, and Rinoa found herself the one making conversation.

"Who are these friends that Seifer's bringing?" she asked.

"People he works with I think," Selphie said. "They'e older than us."

There was silence again. Rinoa began to wonder whether Selphie and Irvine had had some kind of row before coming to pick her up. When the car stopped, she was glad to get out.

Seifer had beaten them there, and his friends were making a lot of noise. They had begun drinking already, and were making the most of the rope swing. Seifer smiled Rinoa's way as she followed Selphie and Irvine, and she blushed and looked away.

* * *

Irvine left Selphie sitting with Rinoa alone at the side of the barn, and went to join the rest. Selphie rested her head in her hands, her face downcast.

"Something wrong?" Rinoa asked.

"Irvine wanted to have sex," Selphie replied not looking at her, but still watching Irvine.

The bluntness of Selphie's reply took Rinoa aback. She had no experience in anything of the kind, and she felt her skin prickle with nervousness. If she didn't give the right advice, or say the right thing, Selphie might realise her inexperience.

"Oh," she said. She hoped Selphie would speak again, and get rid of the silence.

Rinoa felt her face burning. She hadn't been expecting such a reply.

"We've only been going out a few months," Selphie said. "So I said I wasn't ready yet and he got all weird."

"He should respect that," Rinoa said, hoping that she didn't sound old fashioned. It was what chat show hosts usually said, before they were applauded.

Selphie nodded.

"My last boyfriend wasn't very nice," Selphie continued.

"Why?" Rinoa asked, her voice was soft but enquiring. She had never had an opportunity to speak about these things with anyone before, and she didn't know what to make of it.

"He was too rough. I didn't like it," Selphie said.

Rinoa sat stunned. She wondered how Selphie could share something so personal and not be embarrassed. She saw tears forming in her friend's eyes and realised that Selphie was trusting her not to cast judgement. She touched Selphie's arm in support.

"So, you see I don't want to rush this time."

"Can't you tell him?" Rinoa asked.

Selphie laughed, but it was hollow.

"Tell Irvine? You know what he's like."

All that Selphie's story did for Rinoa was to confirm her belief that Irvine was not the kind of boyfriend Selphie needed, and that sex was the cause of all problems. She was glad that she was without a boyfriend, then looked at Seifer and her feelings began to change. He smiled at her again once he saw her looking.

* * *

"Want a drink?" Selphie asked, trying to be bright and cheery once more.

"Sure," Rinoa said, but before they could get up, the barn was flooded with a bright light.

"Police!" the intruder shouted causing everyone to panic. The bright light was coming from the headlights of a police car.

Seifer's friends bolted for the back exit, but Rinoa knew she couldn't run. She was too frightened, staring into the bright light blinded.

Rinoa was delivered back to her house in the early hours of the morning. She hadn't been charged with anything, let off the charge of trespassing and breaking and entering. The police took her home with a warning, and abandoned her to her father's anger.

"Dad I'm really sorry," Rinoa said once the police had gone, but her father wouldn't be appeased.

"I don't want to hear it" he shouted making Rinoa flinch in fear. "Being brought home by the police. That's it Rinoa, I've had enough. I can't watch you all the time, but I'll make damn sure someone else will!"

Rinoa watched him turn his back on her and walk away, once he was gone she leant against the wall and slid down to the floor. She had never felt so frightened in all her life. All she wanted was some friends, and was it too much to ask that she might one day have her very first boyfriend? She didn't understand why it had gone so wrong.

And, what did her father mean by finding someone to watch her?


	5. Three SeeD?

**A/N**: There's a lot of speech in this chapter, since everyone is on the phone. Well, this is the one you've all been waiting for, Squall's here, yay!

_Chapter Five_

General Caraway sat in his office, phone in hand and a pen tapping on the table in the other. He had been on hold for the last ten minutes. He had left this call to the morning, mainly because his temper had been so high last night that he knew he wouldn't have made a good impression. But having to hold was making him terse once more.

Eventually a female answered the call.

"Thank you for holding," she said.

He was about to speak himself, when he realised the voice was only a recording.

There was a click on the line, and then the phone was picked up, by who he assumed was the receptionist.

"Good morning Balamb Garden," she said in a friendly voice. "How can I help?"

"Good morning, I wish to hire SeeD," Caraway said.

He had never personally done this before. Being a general in the army, his role was often about planning, there were others who put out the requests for SeeD's, so he didn't really know the protocol.

"Certainly," the receptionist replied. "I need to take a few details before I pass your request on to the Commander."

Caraway waited, he could hear that Rinoa had come down into the kitchen, she was speaking to the cook, probably complaining about him. The woman on the phone cut short his wondering.

"Ok, so shall we start with the basics. Your name please…"

Although all the questions were simple, yet they took half an hour for the woman to input all the answers into the computer. Eventually she stopped asking.

"That all seems in order, if you hold the line I will see if the Commander can take your call," she said before flicking the line back to the holding message.

She wasn't gone long, but in the time no one was talking to him, he watched Rinoa pass by his open door with a bowl of cereal.

"I'm sorry the commander is busy, but headmaster Kramer will be able to deal with your request. Shall I put you through?"

"Absolutely," Caraway said trying to hold back his frustration at how long this was taking.

The phone-line began dialling again, and it was shortly picked up by what sounded like an older man.

"Cid Kramer speaking, headmaster of Balamb Garden."

"Good morning, I believe that you are about to look over my request for SeeD."

There was a pause and some clicking like tapping on a keyboard.

"Ah yes," Cid said. "General Caraway. This is an unusual request."

"Unusual or not, I will pay the standard fee."

There was another pause.

"Ah," Cid said. "There may be a problem with your request, but I think it may be negotiated. You see I have no junior SeeD to send on this _mission_," he said the last word with some difficulty.

"You mentioned a negotiation?" Caraway inquired. This whole process was taking much longer than he thought it would do. He was desperately trying to keep his cool, it had after all been a long morning now.

"Yes. It is SeeD exam month, and our cadets are being accompanied by qualified SeeD. However there is a few missions taking place around Deling City, which might lend themselves to yours. Mr Caraway, I cannot possibly send you one SeeD, I will have to send you three."

"Three!" Caraway shouted. "What do I want three for? All I want is for one to follow my daughter. One!"

"I'm sorry but it's all I can do. Be assured these are highly ranking SeeD, your daughter will be in the very best of hands. One of the party will be our Commander," Cid said.

He was hoping that Caraway wouldn't refuse. If he could get free accommodation for SeeD mentors, plus a missions fee, without disrupting the field exams, then it would be a good mornings work.

The mention of the Commander being one of the party seemed to dull Caraway's anger. The inconvenience of having three SeeD living in his home, might just be outweighed by the fact that Rinoa would be being watched by the very best.

"And how long will they be available?" Caraway asked.

"SeeD field exams last a month."

"One month? My daughter will need watching for much longer than that!"

To his outrage he heard Cid laugh.

"You might find sir that a month in the company of these SeeD will set your daughter on the straight and narrow for life."

Caraway didn't want to think about what that could mean, instead he decided to wrap up the formalities, and ask when they might be expected. All that would be left to do, was to inform Rinoa.

* * *

"They let me go too," Selphie said, her voice sounding like she had been crying. "Was your father OK?" 

"No," Rinoa said into her phone. "He went mental. I'm sorry Selph, but I don't think I'll be able to go out for a while."

"That's OK, me and Irvine kind of broke up anyway."

"Oh no!" Rinoa said, but it was empty. She wasn't sorry at all, in fact it was probably the best news she'd heard in a while.

"Yeah. But never mind."

Rinoa could tell Selphie wasn't anywhere near over this, what she needed was a day out, just girls. But what were chances of that now? She was about to suggest they watch a film together whilst staying on the phone, when she heard her dad calling her. She reluctantly hung up.

"Yeah dad," she called from the landing, she wasn't going to walk all the way downstairs if she didn't have to.

"I have something to tell you Rinoa."

His voice sounded strange, almost smug, he didn't look angry anymore, in fact he looked pleased.

"What?" Rinoa snapped, she couldn't help it, his smug look was irritating her, and if it was anything to do with her she wanted to know now.

"Three SeeD members will be arriving this evening, and I want you downstairs to greet them when they do. Understood?"

Rinoa looked down over the balustrade with a stunned expression. Three SeeD? Was this what he was taking about last night, finding someone to watch her? She's imagined a nanny of some kind, not a SeeD, never mind three SeeD.

"Ok dad!" she said in her breeziest non-caring voice. She wouldn't let him know she was worried. She spent the rest of the day cleaning her room, if SeeD were coming to watch her, she wouldn't have them thinking she was a slob as well as everything her dad might say.

* * *

Squall stared out of the window as the car wove its way through traffic. It was the most important day in the SeeD calendar, and rather than devote his time to his cadets, he was being forced on a mission that was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard. All he could think was that this man must have more money than sense. 

"Squall, the cadets don't arrive until tomorrow, do you think we could catch a film first?"

Squall turned his head, his two SeeD companions were sitting in the back of the car. The one who had spoke was called Zell. The woman on his left was Quistis. They were both dressed in their SeeD uniforms, but had them hidden under heavy overcoats.

"We have another mission Zell," Squall said. He saw Quistis raise an eyebrow before she looked out of the window.

"Yeah, but it's not like it's going to take all three of us to watch this girl, is it?" Zell protested. "Come on, it's been like forever since I saw a film."

"Zell has a point, it's not going to take all three of us," Quistis said smiling. Zell grinned also, believing she was on his side. "So you can stay in and watch TV, and me and Squall will go out."

Zell stared at her outraged.

"No way!"

Squall thought it was time to put an end to this conversation, there was no point to it anyway, they had a mission, and whatever they thought about it, there was no time for leisure.

"No one is going out," Squall said. "We are staying with this General Caraway and his daughter, so lets make a good impression before Zell starts skiving."

Zell sat back and folded his arms, to his disappointment they turned onto the city's main street and passed the cinema. He read the film titles as they drove by, and wondered what this girl they were about to meet thought about horror films.

The house they pulled up in front of was in no way understated. The imposing brick wall that ran around the perimeter spoke volumes. Squall wondered why anyone would want to keep sneaking out of this house, it probably had everything you could possibly want already inside.

At the door they were greeted by the house keeper, before being shown into the hallway. The General was waiting for them near the stairs, and they could hear someone opening and closing doors on the floor above them.

"Good evening," he said eyeing their SeeD uniforms with pleasure. This was the sort of guests he wanted in his home. "Your Commander joining us later?" he enquired.

"No, _this_ is Squall Leonhart, Commander of Balamb Garden, Zell Dincht, and I am Quistis Trepe."

Caraway looked them over, they were very young. The commander was just a kid, in fact they all were.

"Might I enquire how old you all are?" he asked, knowing he was being rude.

"You may," the Commander replied. "But I don't think we are obliged to answer. You will not find higher ranking SeeD than us sir."

General Caraway was silent, he was not used to his questions not being answered straight away. But he was prevented from saying anymore, as above them a door slammed, and hurried footsteps were heard along the landing, before Rinoa appeared running down the stairs.

"My daughter, Rinoa," Caraway said.

Rinoa didn't quite know what reaction to have to these three strangers. They were not what she expected, in fact they looked the same age as her, except more serious. Her father continued making introductions, and Rinoa smiled at them in tern.

Zell, he looked the most fun, with gelled hair and a daring tattoo. Quistis looked like someone who always got a grade A, she smiled but came across as if her being here was strictly business. But Rinoa's eyes seemed to become glued to Commander Squall Leonhart, he didn't smile at her, just nodded.

He must have known she was staring at him all the way through dinner, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to have the same curiosity about the others. But no matter how much she looked, he never once met her eye, or even seemed bothered by her rudeness. She knew if was she, she'd be blushing by now, having someone stare.

"I am very happy to have you to stay," Caraway said after dinner was over. He stood, indicating that he was leaving them. "I have some business to see to, if you would excuse me. My daughter will show you to your rooms."

Rinoa didn't offer to carry their luggage, it looked like it weighed a ton, but the SeeDs managed to carrying it upstairs without complaint. Rinoa purposely stopped at Quistis' room first.

"This used to be my mother's room," Rinoa said. "Dad sleeps at the back of the house now, doesn't like memories he says."

She watched Quistis look around before Zell barged his way into the room also.

"Instructor, you have your own bathroom!" he said flinging the door open.

Rinoa chanced another look at Squall, he seemed bored, he'd walked as far as the doorway, and was looking around the room languidly. Rinoa had planned to show him is room last, in the hope that she might be able to speak to him alone. But she changed her mind, he didn't look in the mood for talking.

"Ok, commander, you're next!" she said beckoning him to follow her down the hall. "My room is opposite you," she added just for something to say.

The room wasn't as big as the one allocated to Qusitis, but he didn't complain, just set his bags down.

"Ok, where's mine?" Zell asked impatiently.

"Down the hall," Rinoa said, she was about to show him the way, when Squall spoke to her.

"Do you have a phone I can use?" he asked.

Rinoa blushed, it was the first time he had looked her in eye since he had arrived.

"Um, sure, there's one in the hallway downstairs. I'll get the housekeeper to put one in your room for you tomorrow."

He nodded, then disappeared back the way they had come to make his call. Zell was waiting expectantly.

"You got any games?" he asked, making Rinoa confused.

"Games?"

"Yeah, you know, video games."

"Oh, yeah I do. You want to play?" she asked unsure what he meant. She hadn't really been expecting company from these people, she'd expected them to resent being here. Well, she wasn't sure about the other two, maybe they did, but Zell appeared eager to be here.

"Lets get rid of your bags first," Rinoa suggested.

Zell was surprisingly good at every game Rinoa owned, it got to a point where she was bored of playing, since Zell won everything. She didn't realise just how noisy they were being until Quistis walked into the room. Rinoa noticed that she hadn't bothered knocking.

"Zell!"

Zell sprung up and did some kind of strange salute, his face very guilty.

"It's the middle of the night," Quistis said disapprovingly.

"But it's Saturday night," he protested. "And so what, Rinoa was playing too!"

Quistis looked past him at Rinoa, who was adverting her eyes. She didn't know why she was feeling so ashamed, it was her house, she could stay up as long as she wanted.

"We are supposed to be looking after Rinoa, not giving her sleep deprivation," Quistis scolded. Zell walked solemnly to the door, he gave Rinoa a thumbs up behind Quistis' back. "Sorry," Quistis said before closing the door.

There was only one thing Rinoa wanted to do now, and it wasn't sleep. She had to call Selphie.


	6. Quistis and Zell

-1A/N: Thank you for the reviews everyone! I hope you all have a great Christmas, and haven't been crushed under the mad rushes in the shops!

_Chapter Six_

Rinoa was sitting on the sofa, for someone who had got to sleep quite late, she was up surprisingly early. Quistis was awake also, but was sitting in the kitchen with the cook, waiting for bacon. Rinoa lazily flicked through the channels, it was Sunday morning and there wasn't a lot of choice. She skipped past the news to the cartoons.

Selphie hadn't seemed very interested in her news, she was still upset over Irvine, and he filled most of the conversation. Rinoa was willing to bet that Selphie had remembered nothing about the SeeDs. As she was staring at the cartoons, she was joined by Zell. He looked miserable until he spotted the TV.

"Flipping heck, look at the size of that!" he said in awe. He walked forward and started examining the TV.

Rinoa had never thought about it before, but she supposed the TV was rather huge, unnecessarily so. But instead of feeling pleased, she just felt ashamed. However Zell didn't seem to care, he was still marvelling over the picture quality and the surround sound. Quistis joined them, with a bacon sandwich for Zell.

"Awesome," he said taking the sandwich. "Look at that TV instructor, it's flipping ace. I love it here, I even get fed in the mornings!"

"It's a very nice television," Qusitis said sitting down beside Rinoa.

Rinoa felt uneasy sat next to Quistis, she felt like she was sat next to the most popular girl in school. Although Quistis had said and done nothing to make Rinoa feel inferior, she couldn't help but feel inadequate in her presence.

"Why does Zell call you instructor?" Rinoa asked. She thought the best way of overcoming her nervousness of Quistis was to make an effort.

"Becaushe Quistish ish an inshtructor," Zell mumbled, his mouth full.

"Thank you Zell, that clears things up," Quistis said, her voice with a hint of sarcasm. "I'm a teacher at Balamb Garden. I _used_ to be Zell's teacher, but he seems unable to stop calling me Instructor. Even though I have told him, my name is Quistis."

Rinoa smiled, maybe Quistis wasn't so scary after all.

"But you're really young to be a teacher," Rinoa said. Then she thought about her words. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

But Quistis stopped her.

"I became a SeeD at fifteen, it seemed only natural to keep climbing up the grades."

Rinoa looked back at the TV, but something on her face must have spoke her feelings.

"Don't compare your life to SeeDs, it's a different world," Quistis said.

Rinoa bit her lip, but she couldn't take Quistis' advice. She couldn't help it, she was seventeen and struggling at school, and didn't have a job, compared to these people, she seemed pretty pathetic. She stared ahead at the TV until they were interrupted by Squall.

Rinoa had thought that he was still asleep, since she hadn't seen him all morning. But when he walked into the room he was wearing a coat, and there were still flecks of rain on his shoulders.

"We need to brief our cadets," he said.

For a moment Rinoa thought he meant her also, just the way he spoke made her sit upright and want to behave professionally. Her heart raced a little at the task, then she slumped back in her chair, it was nothing to do with her after all, she'd most likely have to stay behind. Plus, being her father's day off, and him being at home to watch her, none of the SeeDs would be likely to stay with her. Especially not Squall.

"What about Rinoa?" Quistis asked.

Rinoa settled herself back in the cushions, Squall was about to say she was staying behind, she knew it. He looked at her, but Rinoa missed catching his eye by turning to look at the TV.

"She's coming with us," Squall said.

Quistis and Zell said nothing, just stood and waited for Rinoa to stand also. She got to her feet slowly then followed them out into the hallway.

Having heard the movement of four people in the hallway, the general appeared in his study doorway. Rinoa reached for her coat, hoping that by putting it on he would think it too much hassle to make her take it off again and stay behind.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Rinoa cringed at his tone, it implied that they might be up to no good. Towards herself she could understand, but he had no right to speak to the SeeDs like that.

"SeeD cadets are arriving this morning, and we are required to debrief them," Quistis explained.

Rinoa understood now why she had found Quistis intimidating, as a teacher, she spoke with authority and confidence. Her tone soon settled the general, he saw a teenager before him, but heard a strong woman in her voice.

"Your daughter will be very safe with us," she added.

"You are taking Rinoa?" he asked, only just noticing her there amongst them.

"Of course," Quistis said, then she smiled warmly. "She will have a much more productive day learning about SeeD, than she will sitting in front of the TV."

The general couldn't argue with that, and was forced to allow his daughter out of the house.

"Ah, freedom!" Rinoa said as she stepped outside, even though it was raining, it was good to be in the fresh air. "Hey you really won one over on my dad," she added to Quistis as she followed her down the path.

She saw Quistis' shoulders shrug.

"Years of diplomatic training," she said as they all followed Squall. "You'll never get anywhere if you lose your cool."

Rinoa nodded, eager to learn more about winning arguments, but knowing that this really wasn't the time, the SeeDs looked to be in a hurry.

"I'll drive," Quistis offered as they neared the hired car.

Squall stepped away and moved to sit in the back with Rinoa. This is stupid, she thought as they drove in silence, it was plainly clear that Squall wouldn't be interested in a silly girl like her. He wasn't even looking at her.

They pulled up outside the train station, where two small vans, with blacked out windows were waiting. They parked alongside one of the vans. Rinoa waited for something to happen, and looked out of the window expectantly, but she could see nothing of interest. Apart from the vans, everything seemed normal.

"We're waiting for the cadets to arrive," Quistis explained.

Rinoa nodded and looked back out of the window. Without saying anything, Squall opened his car door, and a gust of cold air mixed with rain pelted Rinoa. She was about to tell him to shut the door, but before she could speak he was outside the car, and closing the door on her. A few seconds later Zell followed him.

"There," Quistis said pointing. "See that group of people standing by the ticket barrier? That's our cadets."

Rinoa stared at them, they looked a motley crew of people. One man towered over the rest, extremely wide with muscles, and taking up a lot of space. There was a girl with similar hair as herself with a rucksack on her back, and another girl, very small, who looked a lot younger. The rest were too far away or hidden behind the large man.

Squall was talking to them, and Zell was writing something down, but before she could ask Quistis any questions, the group headed towards the vans. Rinoa rearranged her coat, so that when Squall got back into the car he wouldn't sit on it, but he climbed into one of the vans instead.

They remained sandwiched between the vans, one in front, one behind, as they drove down the main street. They were headed for the army barracks on the edge of town, Rinoa knew because she had accompanied her father there on several occasions.

She was going to ask what the cadets missions would be, but was prevented by the bleep of her phone. Fishing it out of her bag, Rinoa saw she had a message.

_Hey babe, hope ur ok. Sel told me the cops let u go. It was one of my friends cops were lookin 4. Sorry. TB seifer xx._

TB? Text back? Text back what? She supposed she should tell him that she was fine. Really she wanted to speak her mind about his friend, leading trouble to them, but she found she didn't want to risk making him angry. It wasn't his fault after all. Instead she ended up hiding her annoyance and sending a message to make him feel less guilty.

_Hi, I'm fine. Don't worry, wasn't ur fault. I don't think I can come out 4 a while tho, dad went mental. Rinoa xx_

Once the message was sent, she wondered whether putting the kisses on the end was such a good idea. But when her phone bleeped again, she knew she'd been right to.

_Aww, no way. Was lookin 4ward 2 seeing u! Seifer xx_

Something about Rinoa's smile spoke volumes to Quistis, as she looked at the girl in the back via the rear view mirror.

"One of your friends?" she asked.

Rinoa blushed.

"Yeah…something like that."


	7. SeeD Cadets Arrive

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews guys! Hope you all had a good Xmas.

**Chapter Seven**

The small girl smiled at Rinoa, she had light blonde hair hanging loose around her face. Rinoa smiled back at her, and had great desire to look after the tiny girl, she didn't look like a SeeD cadet. Squall had split the cadets into two teams, the small girl was in the group with the large man. When Squall had finished speaking to Zell and Quistis he came to stand next to her.

Rinoa smiled at him, but she was nervous. So far Squall was the one she knew the littlest about, and there was a degree of awkwardness between them.

"Squad A will be assisting the Galbadia army, there has been some rebel uprising against the president. Squad B will also be assisting, but they will be back up for Squad A," Squall explained.

Rinoa nodded, but she didn't really understand. She wanted to appear interested, but she knew she wouldn't be able to ask him anything intelligent.

"Will that girl be alright?" Rinoa asked. "She looks very young."

Squall looked at the blonde girl, she gave him a childish excited smile.

"Clari? She's fourteen. She'll be the youngest SeeD in history if she passes the exam, even beating Quistis' record. Quistis was fifteen," he added.

Rinoa nodded, she remembered Quistis telling her herself back at home. Rinoa suddenly realised just how special that must have been, she hadn't put it into context before.

"If her instructor didn't think she was ready, then she wouldn't be here," Squall said.

Rinoa nodded again, but it didn't make her worry any less. Her instructor might have got it wrong. But Clari didn't look nervous at all, she was furiously reading the file that Zell had given her.

"Quistis and Zell will be leaving us now," Squall said in his usual business-like tone.

"So…" Rinoa said dragging out the word. "It's just you and me?"

She tried a flirtatious smile, but Squall didn't seem to notice. He nodded once to the affirmative. Feeling knocked back by her efforts, Rinoa decided to be nonchalant. She shrugged her shoulders to show him she didn't really care.

"What are we going to do?" she asked. She didn't really see Squall as the spontaneous type, it was probably better to make a plan of action.

"What would you normally be doing on a Sunday afternoon?" Squall asked, leading the way to the car as he spoke.

Rinoa shrugged again.

"Hanging out with Selphie and…" she was about to say Seifer, but thought better of it. If she mentioned a boy, he might decide it would be easier watching her if she stayed at home.

"And?" he questioned.

"No and, just Selphie," Rinoa said smiling. She got into the car before he could ask anymore.

They pulled up in front of Selphie's house, and Rinoa jumped out ready to knock on the door. To her surprise the door opened and she came face to face with Seifer. Taken aback, Rinoa stepped off of the front step and back onto the path.

Seifer looked equally as surprised to see her there, he smiled genuinely for a second before it became a smirk.

"So, couldn't keep away from me huh?" he asked grinning.

Rinoa felt herself colour. He laughed, but his laughter was caught short when he looked over her shoulder. Rinoa looked around also, to see Squall watching her closely, his back leaning against the car, his arms folded.

"Who's that?" Seifer asked, his voice with a hint of accusation.

"Yeah, who _is_ that?"

Rinoa looked back to see that Selphie had now joined Seifer.

"One of the SeeDs I was telling you about Selph," Rinoa replied. She was careful not to look at Seifer, who she could see was standing a little straighter than usual.

She looked back at Squall, he was still unashamedly staring at her. She tried another smile, but he replied by crossing his arms a little tighter.

"Oh," Selphie said, vaguely recalling Rinoa mention something about SeeD in a phone conversation. "Me and Seifer were going to go get some shakes, you want to come?"

"Sure," Rinoa said. "But Squall will have to come with me."

She wondered what the conversation would have been if she had been allowed to ride in Seifer's car, but Squall insisted she stay with him. She'd been forced to leave Seifer to wonder what was going on, and she couldn't trust Selphie to give him the correct answers. Squall followed Seifer's car through the traffic and onto the main-street where he turned left into a car park.

Rinoa wanted to run ahead and walk with Seifer, but Squall was in no hurry, and she was forced out of politeness to walk at a more subdued pace.

"I won't sit with you," Squall said once everyone else had chosen a table.

"Oh," Rinoa said surprised. "You're welcome to though."

Maybe she hadn't been very including, she supposed when she said Squall had to come with her, it might of sounded like he was a burden or an annoyance.

"Yeah, you can sit with us," Selphie repeated slapping the seat beside her.

Seifer said nothing.

"Thank you, but I have to make some calls," Squall said, he walked a few tables away, so as not to appear to be listening to their conversation, then sat down. He proceeded to pull out a mobile phone and begin dialling.

Rinoa frowned, but her attention was torn away from Squall when Seifer tapped her arm.

"What you having?" he asked.

Rinoa looked at the menu, and pointed at something randomly. Her mind still wasn't really with them. She was still wondering why Squall had had to borrow the home phone last night, when he had his own. She only barely registered Seifer leaving their table to go order, and shortly after realised that she hadn't given him any money.

She pulled her bag closer and began searching for her purse.

"My treat," Seifer said as he re-joined them. "I said I'd cheer Selphie up, and nothing makes Selphie happier than people buying her things."

Selphie grinned, she wasn't about to argue.

"What's with the guard?" he asked looking at Squall.

Squall was now studying the menu, whilst still talking on the phone.

"You know I said my dad went mental? Well he hired SeeD to watch over me. That's Squall, he's the commander of Balamb Garden, and there's…"

"Hang on, he's the Commander? What?" Selphie interrupted too loudly.

Rinoa had the sense that Squall's eyes had just flickered over her, but she was too shy to check.

"Yeah, he's the Commander. There's two other's as well, a teacher, Quistis, and some guy called Zell, with really awesome hair. But they're busy today," Rinoa finished. "I think they have to follow me everywhere… or I have to stay with them."

"Your dad hired the Commander of Balamb Garden to watch out for you?" Seifer asked, looking sceptical. "Just because you were hanging out with me and Selphie?"

Rinoa nodded.

"Pretty much."

Seifer shook his head.

"That's bloody insane," he declared.

Seifer managed to sum up Rinoa's feelings in one sentence, and before they knew it they were in hysterics.

"Hey, since we're such bad influences, how about a shot of vodka and a cigarette to go with that milkshake?" Seifer offered.

Trying to drink through a straw and laugh at the same time, resulted in Rinoa slopping part of her drink onto the table.

"Oh great Heartilly, now look what you've done," Seifer said throwing her a serviette. "Can't take her anywhere."

"Shut up!" Rinoa demanded hitting him playfully on the arm.

"No seriously, can't take her anywhere. Not anymore anyway," Seifer said, his tone ended the laughter and brought an uncomfortable silence.

* * *

Squall drove her home, stopping to pick up Quistis and Zell at the train station. Rinoa could see they were tired, as Zell didn't speak, and Quistis' hair was no longer tied back. Quistis spoke quietly to Squall as they drove, but said nothing that interested Rinoa. 

Just before they reached the house, her phone bleeped.

_Sneak out tomorrow. Seifer xx_


	8. To Legends

**A/N: **Thank you to Hououza, Juno, Freyjadour, LadyJamie178, CherryYuki-chan and Bloc-9 for the reviews. I wrote the fic's first bit of Squinoa action in this chapter, hurray!

**Chapter Eight**

Rinoa was drying her hair, a steely determined look on her face. Zell was sat at the end of her bed, completely oblivious about what she was doing, his eyes glued to her TV, his hands pressing buttons on the games controller.

She supposed that she had fallen out with Squall, at least that's if people who were never friends in the first place, can fall out.? She had explained that her friends wanted to go out, and how Selphie still needed cheering up, and how she really wanted to go. But Squall had asked where, and she hadn't been able to lie.

"To Legends," Rinoa said in a mumble.

"And what is Legends?" Squall asked.

Maybe she should have picked a better time, or maybe she should have asked Zell. But there hadn't really been any other opportunity, and Zell and Quistis really did look tired.

"It's a night club," Rinoa mumbled again. "It's it's a very small one, and I've been there before. Loads of times."

"If you've been there before, then you don't need to go again," Squall said.

Rinoa could see he was trying to watch the news, and she knew she'd probably have a better shot at convincing him if she waited until it finished. She knew how irritating it was when someone interrupted your program.

"Yeah, but…."

"Rinoa, I am not taking you to a night club. You are too young to go."

"I wont be drinking!" Rinoa promised clutching at straws now. "And I am not too young."

"You are telling me that you'll go and not drink, and you expect me to believe that? I know that you drink, and that your friends do too, your father has told me everything."

Rinoa walked to the TV, her hands clenched into fists, and turned the TV off. She spun round to face him. Squall hadn't moved, he was just watching her. His infuriatingly casual approach to her losing her temper made Rinoa even angrier.

"My father doesn't know anything, and neither do you!" she shouted.

She tried to run out of the room, but Squall was too fast for her. She knew she'd never win a fight against him, and it had been childish to start shouting. He took hold of her arms, and stepped in front of her.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Rinoa tried to pull her arms away, but he was holding them too tightly.

"Do you even have any friends?" she asked spitefully. "Can't you understand that Selphie and Seifer are the only people who ever wanted anything to do with me? Why won't you let me be normal?"

"Normal is being brought home by the police is it? It's your friends fault I'm here, they're the ones giving you alcohol and making you act like an idiot."

"Shut up!" Rinoa demanded.

"Shut up?" Squall challenged. They were so close now that Rinoa could swear he'd be able to hear her heart fighting in her chest. She saw no anger in his eyes, and yet she was still afraid of him. Everything about him was worlds away from what she was. He was calm, and the balance of power was all him, she was stumbling, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to do.

Without warning he threw her backwards into the sofa, where her head hit the cushions and she lay stunned for a moment.

"You would be better off without your friends Rinoa," he said sitting down as if nothing had happened.

After the initial shock, the past few events began replaying in her head. Her heart was still hammering, yet it was different. It felt almost like when she had first realised Seifer might like her, but a million times more powerful. She stared at him until she realised what she was doing and looked away. She couldn't say anymore to him, she just needed to leave.

She couldn't start thinking about Squall in any other way than what he was, an employee of her father. He wasn't here because he wanted to be, he wasn't her friend, and he would never be anything else.

She pushed herself forward on the seat but stopped moving when Squall stood. Unexpectedly he offered her his hand to help her up. His offer of reconciliation annoyed Rinoa more than his words, and she slapped his hand away. She made her own way out of the room, fighting back confused tears.

Zell had met her in the hall, and after his shower and something to eat, he looked a lot more alive. But it was too late to ask him to come out with her, if Squall said no, then she had no doubt that they'd all say the same.

"Can I play your video games again?" he asked.

Rinoa had just nodded, if Zell was in her room with her, then she wouldn't be able to give in to crying.

Zell still sat there now, beating every boss, and completing every level. Rinoa's mind had been made up as soon she'd reached her room. She would go out in spite of what Squall said, she'd just sneak out again. After telling Zell that she wanted to go to sleep now, she shooed him from her room in order to do her make-up.

Seifer was going to pick her up, and it had been his idea to go to the club. One of his friends worked on the door, who would overlook the fact that Selphie and Rinoa were underage. Not that Rinoa had much respect for Seifer's friends, not after the incident with the police, but she wasn't in a position to get high and mighty.

So she was ready, make up done, hair styled, clothes perfect. She'd decided to wear her black dress, and silver shoes. She felt like making a impact with her look tonight, the aim to make some heads turn, Seifer's especially.

Carrying her shoes, Rinoa crept down the stairs and past the living room, where the TV was still on. She quickly slipped into the toilet and opened the window. Throwing her shoes, bag and coat out of the window, Rinoa teetered on the edge of the window, her upper body through, one foot of the toilet, one in midair.

She was about to push herself through when felt someone take hold of her hips. As she screamed, and her movement of shock ended up tipping her out of the window. Landing heavily, she turned her head to see Squall disappearing from the window. Scrabbling for her bag and shoes, Rinoa abandoned her coat as she ran for the path. The light from indoors illuminated her back as she run, and knew Squall had got to the front door.

"Rinoa!" he shouted.

She heard a car engine not far away, and she ran towards it as fast as she could manage. She flung herself into the back seat.

"Drive!" she yelled.

They sped down the road, and when she turned to looked out of the back window, Squall was all but a dot on the side of the road.


	9. Seifer Likes You

**A/N: **Thank you everyone who reviewed. I really love writing this fic, and it's not difficult to update. Rinoa's being silly again in this chapter, ah to be young and foolish.

**Chapter Nine**

Waiting in line to get into the club was what Rinoa hated about going out. It was made all the worse by the fact that she had left her coat behind. Selphie was determined to have a good time, and was in an irritatingly enthusiastic mood. Her incessant chatting was beginning to get on Rinoa's nerves, who was checking over her shoulder every few seconds.

"Who you looking for?" Seifer asked, unable to ignore Rinoa staring through the crowds any longer.

"Squall," she simply said in reply.

"He doesn't look the type to come clubbing," Selphie said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Aw, hurry up! I'm freezing," she shouted down the line, turning a few heads with annoyed glances.

"He knows this is where I'll be," Rinoa confessed.

Seifer folded his arms, he was wary of the SeeD Commander, there was something about him that he didn't like, not to mention that he was currently spoiling all his moments with Rinoa.

"Why did you tell him that you'd be here?" he asked. "Don't you want to come out with us?"

"Of course I do!" Rinoa insisted. "It's just, I thought he'd let me go…"

Seifer wouldn't speak to her anymore as they stood in the line, and once they were inside he abandoned them. Rinoa knew he was offended, but she couldn't understand what she'd done wrong. The SeeDs were a part of her life now, for better or worse, and there was nothing she could do about it. Maybe she should have kept her plans to herself, but she had tried to do the right thing.

OK, so the SeeDs were here to watch her, but surely that meant she was still allowed to have a life? Following Selphie to the bar, she felt someone take hold of her hand, and turned to look into the face of a grinning youth.

"Alright?" he asked forwardly.

Rinoa pulled her hand away, she didn't know this boy, and felt annoyed at being accosted so. What was he hoping for, that she'd stay and chat? Although it didn't look as if chatting was on his mind. Before she could say anything, Selphie had doubled back to her rescue.

"I don't think so mate," she said pulling Rinoa away. "Hey, what did I say about tonight?" Selphie asked as they finally made it to the bar.

"Strictly no boys," Rinoa said dutifully.

"Exactly, we're here for the dancing only," Selphie said, before shouting her order at the bartender.

Alcopop in hand, Selphie and Rinoa walked around the edge of the dance floor, looking for people they knew. They passed the usual crowds, people that were always out, but they didn't know the names of. Choosing to stand near to the DJ, they sipped their drinks through a straw and rated other people's outfits.

"Seriously, what is that?" Selphie asked watching a girl in a tight pink skirt cross the dance floor. "In what universe is that OK?"

Rinoa couldn't help but laugh, even though she knew she shouldn't. She even laughed at outfits that she thought were nice, just so it would seem that she had something in common with Selphie. She wished sometimes that she could assert herself more, but the fear of being laughed at herself kept her quiet.

"Oh no," Selphie said suddenly. "It's Irvine."

Selphie turned sideways so that she wouldn't have to look at him. Rinoa scanned the room, and sure enough, there was Irvine. He was standing with a group of people Rinoa didn't recognise. As soon as he spotted her, he waved in greeting. Rinoa reluctantly raised her hand, waving back. He'd never lowered himself by greeting her before, so she supposed he was just trying to score points with Selphie.

"Is he looking?" she asked.

"Yeah," Rinoa confirmed. "But he's with another girl."

Selphie turned to look at him outraged.

"That total slag!" she exclaimed.

Rinoa didn't know whether he was with that girl with the long brown hair and the endless legs, but she didn't care. The worse Selphie thought about him, then the better. Irvine tried a wave at Selphie, but she blanked him and dragged Rinoa along in her wake.

Not noticing where they were going, Rinoa was surprised when they bumped into Seifer. He looked in the middle of chatting up some girl with outrageously short hotpants, but Selphie barged through their conversation uncaring.

"Who does he think he is?" she demanded.

The girl speaking to Seifer excused herself, and didn't look all too sorry to have to leave. She was getting a lot male attention, and obviously didn't value Seifer's too highly. Rinoa watched her walk away with a mixed emotion, something between envy and disgust.

Rinoa sipped her drink a little too enthusiastically; too nervous to look at Seifer in case he was still angry. But he had a pint in his hand, and with most of it gone; his mood seemed to have mellowed.

"That's it, I'm going to pull tonight," Selphie decided, finishing her drink by tipping the bottle back and ignoring the straw. "Another?" she asked Rinoa.

With Selphie gone, Rinoa felt her heart quicken it's pace once more. She knew it was because of Seifer. He did look particularly roguish tonight, he had that naughty smirk on his face that had once frightened her, but now found alluring. She blushed when he turned that look on her, and she stared bashfully down at the ground.

"Gonna dance with me later?" he asked. His tone of voice made it sound as if she'd be crazy to turn him down. It made her blush even harder and she wasn't sure how to reply. "I'd dance with you now, but no drinks allowed on the dance floor."

It wasn't particularly funny, but Rinoa found herself laughing nervously. She hoped he'd leave it there, but it was clear that he wanted an answer.

"So? Going to dance with me?"

"Um, sure… OK," Rinoa mumbled.

He laughed at her shyness then drained the last of his drink. Rinoa watched as what should be three mouthfuls disappeared in one. Selphie returned with three bottles, one red, one blue and a beer for Seifer. Without warning, Seifer's hand disappeared behind Rinoa's back and sneaked up onto her hip.

Nothing much ever passed Selphie's inquisitive eye, and she wasn't about to be fooled by Seifer's terrible attempt subtlety. She gave Rinoa a questioning look to which Rinoa shrugged. Seifer finally wandered away, to speak to the girl that Irvine had arrived with, the girl with the endless legs.

"OK, so what was that?" Selphie demanded, the straw from her drink in the side of her mouth. Rinoa saw the blue liquid going up the straw continuously. Clearly they were going to have a heavy night.

"I don't know, he asked me to dance later, then he did that arm-around-me thing."

"He must really like you… but I still think you should be careful. He's been out with a lot of girls."

Rinoa nodded. But rather than be checked by Selphie's advice, Rinoa foolishly wondered whether she might be the one to keep him. Succeed where all those other girls had failed. Somewhere in her heart she knew what she was hoping for was stupid, that she was going to get hurt, but her romantic fantasy wouldn't allow her to listen.

"Hey, why don't we go dance after these?" Selphie suggested holding up her drink.

Rinoa nodded, but her attention was mainly on Seifer.


	10. Trouble at the Club

**A/N: **Hands up who loves that fake smoke DJs use? Proper school disco stuff. Ok, this chapter is a mammoth compared to the others, but I hope there is something here for everyone.

**AoiTsukihime- **The title does have a purpose, which will be explained later. I just thought it sounded nicer than, well, _sometimes we act like idiots_, for example. Lol. Although, it will ultimately mean that in the end.

Thank you reviewers!!!

**Chapter Ten**

The car headlights lit up the world before them, as they drove slowly down a side road. Having looked all through the main streets without success, they were beginning to despair of never finding what they were looking for.

"Where the hell is this bloody place?" Zell shouted from the backseat.

He was the most restless of the three SeeDs, having settled himself in for bed when Squall had abruptly interrupted him and forced him to get dressed again. Quistis was equally as tired, and tried to stifle a yawn behind her hand. She looked sideways at Squall, they were all running on paracetemol tablets and caffeine now, and it wouldn't be long before one of them burnt out.

"Maybe we should stop and ask for directions? We could pull into that petrol station there," she suggested pointing at the brightly lit petrol forecourt.

Squall didn't reply, just guided the car slowly to the suggested stop and cut the engine.

"I'll go," Zell offered grateful for a breath of fresh air and a chance to stretch his legs.

"Squall, you need to calm down," Quistis advised seeing his hands holding the steering wheel a little too tightly.

"I am calm," he said slowly, his voice full of annoyance, desperately trying to keep his self-control.

He couldn't believe the nerve of the girl. Her father hadn't been exaggerating when had said she needed watching. Squall had been prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt, but that was about to change.

Zell rejoined them, slamming the car door; he offered Qusitis a choice of chocolate bars as he spoke to Squall.

"It's on the outskirts, on an industrial estate. You need to head North-West out of town."

Squall nodded and started the engine. Chocolate and junk food was frowned upon in Garden, it didn't provide the correct energy for training, and Squall generally ate what was advised, but in the circumstances, chocolate was very welcome.

Feeling better for the sugar, all three enjoyed a momentary rush of energy with carried them all the way to the industrial estate, where hidden amongst it was _Legends_.

There was still a queue of people waiting to go in, showing it to be a very popular place. Ignoring the people waiting, Squall led his team to the front, not paying any attention to the outraged cries of people waiting in the cold.

"Back of the queue kid," the bouncer said, his suited frame twice the size of Squall.

"I don't think so mate," Zell said pushing in front.

A second equally large man joined his colleague to form a formidable team, ready for something to kick off.

"We're not here to cause trouble," Squall said reaching into his shirt pocket for his wallet.

He held it up for the bouncer to read, Zell and Quistis copied his lead and held up their ID also.

"We're looking for a girl," Squall continued. Knowing that he'd caused these two men trouble, if a fight was started in the club, it was up to them to break it up. But what chance did they have against SeeD?

"This place is full of girls," one said folding his arms, but stepping back in an act of respect.

"This one's under-aged, so it would be better for all if we find her…before the police raid this place."

The two men looked at one another, then stood aside from the door, pulling the red rope away from the entrance so that the SeeDs could go inside.

They walked into the cloakroom, where they were met with a man who introduced himself as the manager. One of the bouncers must have called him, Squall thought. He shook Squall's hand with an oily smile on his face, eager for a quiet night. He advised them to check in their coats due to the temperature of the club and followed them inside.

The SeeDs soon realised their night was no where near finished, the mass of people swarming before them magnified how difficult it would be to find Rinoa amongst them, if indeed she was still here.

"Go with the manager to the bar, and wait there," Squall instructed. "I'm going to make a sweep of the place, see if can find Rinoa. Zell, watch the left side of the room, Quistis take the right."

They nodded, not wanting to salute in such a crowed place where anybody could be holding a grudge against SeeD. Squall left them, walking away in the opposite direction.

"Champagne?" the manager asked trying desperately to appease his unwelcome visitors.

Quistis shook her head.

"Thank you, but…."

"Yeah, and keep it coming!" Zell said over her polite refusal, and rubbed his hands together eagerly.

Quistis politely sipped her drink, whereas Zell finished his third glass much too quickly. The manager had left them to their own devices now, watching them from a far, regretting offering them drinks.

They stared through the crowd, but the fast moving people all soon became a blur, and Zell was becoming less and less motivated to keep looking.

"This stuff tastes like crap," he declared finishing the bottle. "I'll have a beer," he yelled at the barman.

"We are working Zell," Qusitis reminded him. "And you are under-aged, and shouldn't be drinking."

"So? I'm clocking-off, dock it from my salary. There's only so much work a man can do per day before he needs a beer."

"Pathetic," Qusitis mumbled.

Spotting Squall, she quickly abandoned her drink and knocked Zell's away.

"Hey!" he complained retrieving it.

Squall, however, said nothing, he was too preoccupied to even notice that what Zell was drinking wasn't cola.

"Any luck?" Quistis asked.

Squall leant his back against the bar and shook his head. It was impossible to find anyone in this place. Walking around was even worse than standing still, as people were continually bumping into one another, and there was no chance to stop and search.

* * *

Rinoa was on the dancefloor, one hand was thrown in the air above her head, the other holding onto Selphie. She was laughing, not caring anymore what she looked like, just concerned with moving with the music. The DJ blew fake smoke into the crowd, which disguised everyone in a haze.

She was brought back to earth when some lad she had never seen before took hold of Selphie's other hand and turned her to face him. Enjoying the attention, Selphie began dancing with the stranger, allowing his hands to travel over her hips and Rinoa was quickly forgotten.

The fun of dancing lessened without Selphie, and Rinoa decided to escape to the bar for one more drink. Really she knew she'd had enough, but she'd managed to drink herself into a state where she believed one more wouldn't make a difference.

She reached the edge of the dancefloor, through much pushing and shoving only to step back in horror. Stood at the bar was Commander Leonhart.

"No way," Rinoa exclaimed.

She disappeared into the crowd before his eyes looked her way, and bumped into someone far more pleasant.

"Hey doll," Seifer said grinning. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Thought you might have gone off with someone else."

His expression told a different story however, it spoke of a confidence in Rinoa having waited all night for him to make good on his promise to dance with her.

"No, I'm still here," Rinoa said. She felt a little more confident in his presence than she would be normally, thanks to the alcohol.

"So, I see," he said grinning again, and pushing her back into the middle of the dancefloor.

Rinoa blushed, she had thought Seifer might have forgotten her but here he was. Maybe Selphie was wrong, he seemed to really want her company. The room was filled with girls, and he could take his pick if he really wanted to. But he'd chosen her, and Rinoa didn't understand why.

Seifer spun Rinoa around, and moved his hips in time with her's, whilst standing close behind her. Rinoa looked down at the ground shyly until she found a rhythm and little more confidence. She suddenly had tingling feeling over her skin, and her mind began racing.

The music begged them to dance closer, and the singer sang of sex and desires, sweeping them up into a world of flashing lights, smoke machines, and blushing behaviour. All of a sudden she was just like those girls she had watched from afar before, envying them on the dancefloor dancing seductively with boys, who wouldn't even look her way. She was just as desired as they were, and she smiled enjoying the way Seifer was looking at her, every time she looked behind.

Before she knew what was happening, they were facing one another, and it was the most natural thing in the world to be kissing. Rinoa knew her light-headedness wasn't being caused by the copious amount of alcopops anymore. She laughed as the music changed and Seifer spun her away to treat her to a display of intentionally stupid dance moves.

Laughing hysterically, Rinoa joined him, pretending to swing a lasso around in the air. She was about to move closer to him again, when someone took hold of her arm.

"Get off!" she demanded, before realising who was holding her.

"Outside now," Squall said in a voice that wasn't to be argued with. "Not here," he added to Seifer who was looking murderous.

Outside the cold air hit Rinoa hard; she doubled up on the street feeling sick. She knew Seifer wouldn't find this very attractive, but she couldn't help it, her head was spinning. She gratefully accepted Quistis' jacket and put it on without protest, it was only when the world came back to her that she realised Qusitis was wearing a coat, as was Zell, and the only one who wasn't was Squall.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Seifer shouted striding right up into Squall's face.

Zell reacted by taking battle stance, Squall however didn't back down.

"Instead of shouting at me, why not take your problems to General Caraway, or are you afraid?" Squall taunted him, he knew he really should walk away and get Rinoa home, but something about this man irritated him to a point he couldn't explain.

"I'm not afraid of that old man!" Seifer shouted.

Quistis knew both men were dangerously close to taking the argument to a fight, and Zell wasn't doing too much to stop it. But with Rinoa now leaning on her and crying, she wasn't in a position to step in.

"Don't call him that!" Rinoa screamed.

Rinoa appearing to side with Squall ended Seifer's control and he slammed his hands sharply into Squall's chest. Recoiling automatically, Squall's battle instinct kicked in and he punched Seifer square in the face instinctively. Blood splattered onto the ground and onto Squall's shirt.

At this the bouncers stepped in, unable to ignore the brawl any longer and restrained Seifer from retaliating. Blood streaming down his face, Seifer wasn't the handsome young man Rinoa had kissed in the club, but a snarling thug intent on doing damage.

His arm, loose for a moment swung at Squall, how dodged enough for Seifer's fist to miss it's intended target and connect with the side of his cheek. Squall felt no pain at first, then it flooded in unmercifully, yet he knew it was nothing to what Seifer would be feeling. It had been unfair to hit Seifer as he had, but he hadn't been thinking.

The SeeDs kept their emotions hidden, too well trained and used to violence. Rinoa lost track of events from then on, her mind simply couldn't take anymore. She briefly remembered seeing Selphie, then Seifer covered in blood again, then somehow she was in a car.

"Squall, we need to pull over," Quistis was saying from somewhere above where Rinoa was slumped.

Vaguely aware of being dragged out of the car, Rinoa fell face down into the grass where she threw up the majority of her drinks, a testament to too much sweet flavoured vodka.


	11. The Choice To Stay

**AN: **It's getting ready for uni time again, yay, I'm excited to be getting back to work! Thank you to LadyJamie178, Hououza, Alantie Mistaniu, Azarethian Titan, wrightyo, Cerulean Crystal, Freyjadour, Bloc-9, Yuleen75, AoiTsukihime and chrisVIII. Thank you all for reading!

**Chapter Eleven**

Rinoa was kneeling in the grass, her stomach hurting, and her eyes stinging with tears. She felt sure that she was going to die, she felt so ill. She'd lost track of where she was, and who was around her, as their voices sounded far away, and blurred.

"We can't take her home like this," Quistis said holding Rinoa's hair back from her face. She rubbed the girl's back supportively as she spoke.

"I'm not covering this up," Squall said firmly. "I'm taking her home, and her father can deal with this."

"Yeah, but won't we be in trouble for letting her sneak out?" Zell asked.

Squall folded his arms. Zell was right, they had failed by letting Rinoa go out, had they taken better care of her, it wouldn't have happened.

"I'm breaking our contract with General Caraway," Squall decided. "This girl is wasting our time."

Quistis looked at Rinoa's tear stained face, the girl wasn't listening, her eyes were unfocused and her skin was deathly pale. She needed looking after; there was no doubt about that, but was she really a waste of their time?

"Squall, is what she did really that bad? Yes, it's inconvenienced us, but she shouldn't have to stop living her life just because we can't be bothered. Besides, we've never not completed a mission before…"

If Rinoa had been aware of what was happening, then she would have bee surprised. If she had to put money on who out of the SeeDs would have stood up for her, then it wouldn't have been Quistis.

Squall stared at Rinoa's back; he had known that she would not be an easy person to live with. She was too naïve, too carefree with life, and a complete opposite to him. If he continued with their 'mission' to watch over her, then things would have to change.

"Zell?" Squall asked.

Zell was the only one who had yet to venture an opinion. Usually full of energy, Zell looked deflated, leaning on the car for support. If they stayed, then the events of last night would most likely be repeated.

"I like her. We should stay," Zell said.

His opinion on the subject swayed it, and although Squall ultimately has the final say, he wasn't about to override their decisions. He didn't dislike the girl, but watching out for her was interfering with the SeeD cadet's exams, and he had to be objective.

"We will stay, but our SeeD cadets are first priority," he said before helping Quistis to stand Rinoa up.

Unaware that a great moment in her life had just been discussed, Rinoa tripped and leant her whole weight on Squall. Her life had just been standing at a crossroad, one with SeeD, one without, but she would never know.

Squall half dragged, half carried Rinoa, her toes dangling just above the ground, towards the car. Having made up his mind to stay, he was determined to see their mission through, even if he had to drag the girl around on a regular basis.

Quistis took over the driving, and Squall sat in the back with Rinoa, trying to keep her upright. She wasn't crying or looking ill anymore, she had her eyes closed, close to falling asleep.

Quistis pulled up to a quiet looking café, which had just opened to start serving breakfast. Slightly more aware of what was happening now, Rinoa held onto Squall's arm as they walked into the café and sat at a table near the window.

"Feeling better?" Quistis asked kindly as Rinoa took her seat.

"Not really," Rinoa replied, rubbing at her eye. "How do I look?"

Quistis glanced at the window, where Rinoa's reflection was clear. Groaning, Rinoa immediately ran her fingers through her hair to untangle the knots, and used a serviette to rub away the smudged eyeliner. Her attempt to make herself look more presentable worked, and after a cup of coffee and some toast, she was looking a lot better.

"Why haven't you take me home yet?" Rinoa asked as they ate.

It had been playing on her mind ever since they had brought her here. She had been sure that she had been on her way home, and to another argument with her dad, but these people had obviously had better ideas.

"If you're trying to kill me by keeping me awake, I'll have you know I've stayed up longer than this before," Rinoa jokingly warned.

"You are welcome to tell your father the truth," Squall said turning to face her. "Or, you could tell him that you left with us as six thirty this morning, to watch the SeeD cadets."

Rinoa frowned at him.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because we've been employed to look out for your best interests."

Still unconvinced, Rinoa smiled at Zell instead, who looked as confused she as she felt. But why did it matter? She'd had her night out with Seifer, and had gotten away with it.

* * *

By the time they arrived home, Rinoa's father had already left for work, and with the house looking normal Rinoa guessed that she'd evaded trouble. She left the SeeDs in the hallway and headed to her room, the tiredness was coming and going, but she knew as soon as she lay down she'd be asleep.

She turned the corner from the stairs, only to realise that someone had followed her. Squall walked with her to her room, and stopped when she did, outside. When Rinoa opened her door, she realised that Squall was intending to follow her inside as well. Stepping into her room, she hoped to close the door in his face, but he'd already passed the doorway.

"Do you mind?" Rinoa challenged stepping away.

Squall closed the door behind them.

"I don't know what you were trying to do last night, but it was stupid," he said folding his arms, it was clear that he wasn't about to leave until he'd said what he had to.

"I was with my friends, with Seifer, just because I prefer being with them than staying home with you, does not make me stupid!"

"Is getting into a car with a driver who has been drinking, clever then?" Squall asked.

Rinoa turned her back on him. He was right, and she hated him for being more grown up than she was.

"It's my life, I'll do what I want!" she shouted, storming to her bathroom and slamming the door behind her.

Sitting down on the floor, her back resting on the door, Rinoa put her head in her hands. She still felt sick, although now it was more from the lack of sleep. Listening hard, Rinoa waited to hear the click of the door when Squall left, but sitting still made her close her eyes, and then she lost track of time.

She woke with a start, and it took a moment to realise where she was. She looked at her watch; it was almost ten in the morning. Listening carefully, and hearing nothing, she opened the door and looked outside. Her heart sank; Squall was still there.

"Why are you still here?" she demanded.

"I haven't finished speaking."

"Look, I'm not one of your SeeD cadets that you can order around, in fact, I'm _your_ boss. So, I suggest you start being nicer to me."

Rinoa stood with her hands on her hips, trying to make her words seem threatening, but Squall's face remained impassive. He'd been waiting in her room for half an hour, and Rinoa didn't know why he was bothering. If he'd just told her father, this would have all been sorted, with no inconvenience to himself…but he hadn't.

"I'm here to make you a deal," Squall said walking towards her. "You're not one of my SeeD cadets, and I cannot make you my priority mission, but I'll stay if you want me here."

Quistis' words had made sense to him, he wasn't here to judge Rinoa, or even like her, he was here to keep her safe. But he could have walked away, except he hadn't.

"If I want you here, what does that mean?" Rinoa asked, her voice sounding irritated. All she wanted was to go to bed.

"If I leave, your father will only hire someone else. A Galbadian SeeD probably, who won't give you a second chance."

There was silence while Rinoa thought.

"Well, if you put it like that… Ok, be nice to me, and I'll be nice to you," she said holding out her hand for him to shake.

He nodded in agreement as he shook her hand, and then walked out of her room, leaving Rinoa, confused and tired behind him.


	12. A Date?

**A/N:** Thank you all for the reviews guys!

_Chapter Twelve_

Three days passed in which Rinoa did what she was told, she went to school, did her homework and stayed in at night. However it hadn't been difficult to behave, since it hadn't really been a choice. In fact since her ill-fated night out in Legends, neither Selphie nor Seifer had contacted her.

Continuously checking her phone when not in class, Rinoa was at first frustrated, angry, and then upset that she had had no messages. Selphie had still sat next to her in English, but she was quiet and offered only closed answers to all of Rinoa's questions.

The SeeDs had been busy, the missions had started, and they spent most of their time with their cadets, taking it in turn to stay home with Rinoa. But even when they were at home with her, they were hardly there. Quistis was constantly writing things down and uploading new information and online lectures onto the Balamb Garden forums. She tried her best to include Rinoa, but the conversations were too complicated, and Quistis often talked about things that Rinoa didn't understand, that Rinoa couldn't remain interested.

Zell would spend his time sleeping, and he didn't care where he fell asleep either. In front of the TV, in front of her TV after playing video games, or on the sun-lounger in the garden. And if he wasn't sleeping, he was shadowboxing and eating the contents of the fridge.

But at least Zell and Quistis attempted to talk to her, the worst offender was Squall. Rinoa felt angry thinking about it, unable to count the numerous times that he'd been in mid-conversation on the phone, only to stop and send off to find a pen. She'd only obeyed him because she was bored, and because it gave her an excuse to sit near him. She was helping, she said.

Squall would receive calls from a man called Cid, a girl called Xu and occasionally a doctor with a long name that Rinoa could never remember, something like Kadwacky.

It was Squall's turn to watch her this evening, and to keep herself in his way, Rinoa set up her essays on the dining room table next to him. She pulled out her camera and set it on the table. She wondered for a moment if he was camera shy.

"I'm not authorising the immunisation," Squall said randomly down the phone, or at least it seemed random to Rinoa since she had missed the beginning. "The side affects have not been fully explored."

Rinoa could see that he was getting annoyed with whoever was on the phone, and she wondered whether she could wind him up some more. She had nothing else to do after all.

"I have a new photography project," she said picking up her camera.

Squall gave a look that read; _can't you see that I'm on the phone_? Rinoa grinned. She didn't know why she couldn't just leave him alone; really she should call Selphie, and find out why she was getting the cold shoulder from her.

"It's all about people in the workplace…" Rinoa continued. "So, I have to take some pictures of you."

She put the camera to her eye and looked at him through the lens, so far Squall was still ignoring her.

"If they want to volunteer for drug tests then fine, but I want my views on this recorded," Squall said before he was illuminated with a bright white flash of light. "Rinoa, would you put that down!"

"No, I have to take pictures of you," she whined, winding the film on.

"Just one moment," Squall said to the person on the phone. "Rinoa I am busy…"

"That's the point! I have to take pictures of you on the phone, at _work_, you know. Balamb Garden Commander _at work_, it's got a ring to it, right? If I wait until you're finished on the phone, my pictures will just be, Squall in my house… and no one would be interested in that."

Rinoa gave him her most winning smile, the one that used to work on her dad whenever she wanted something. Squall stared at her wondering whether she was mad or just plain annoying, and for a moment forgot he was on the phone.

"I'll call you back."

Squall put the phone down and was blinded by another camera flash. He felt his temper rising, but battled it away.

"Want to go out?" he asked, his voice not quite as confident as usual, but succeeding in getting her to put the camera down.

Rinoa's heart skipped a beat. He was asking her out? Seriously? She didn't even think he liked her, and this was pretty fast, was it a trick? Had he seen her staring and decided to embarrass her?

"Erm… a date?" Rinoa asked, making sure that she didn't seem keen on the idea.

"Yes, a date," Squall said as seriously as he could manage. H saw a flash of panic in her eyes and decided not to tease her. "No, just out."

Rinoa tried to smile and act as if she didn't care, but she felt slightly hurt that he didn't want to call it a date. But then again, they'd only known each other five days; a date would be jumping the gun.

"But, it's just us?" Rinoa wanted to clarify.

At least if it wasn't a date, then she didn't have any reason to be nervous, except she failed telling her stomach that.

"If you don't want to go…"

"I want to go!" Rinoa said a little too eagerly. "I'll get my coat."

Running to her room, Rinoa opened her wardrobe door to find her best coat, the dark purple long one with the fur trim, and kicked off her flats for her heeled boots. Her studied herself in the mirror for a moment; her make-up was still holding up, and her hair was OK, and she was ready to go.

Squall waited for her at the bottom of the stairs, and wondered why he was taking her out. Was it really because sitting together with nothing to do was becoming irritating, or was it becoming uncomfortable? All Squall knew was that he wasn't acting like himself.

Rinoa appeared at the top of the stairs, and gave him such a genuine smile that he couldn't help but stare at her as she walked down the stairs to join him.

"Alright?" she asked him, slinging her handbag over her shoulder and tucking it under her arm.

Snapping out of his daydream, Squall looked away from her before she could realise that he wasn't thinking the same about her, as he had when he had first arrived.

"You should tell your father that we're going out," Squall said.

Rinoa blushed; she liked the way he'd said that.

"Oh, yeah," she said shyly. "Dad," she yelled down the hall. "Me and Squall are going out!"


	13. Cinema

_A/N: Note at end._

_Chapter Thirteen_

Rinoa had had high expectations of where they might be going, until the taxi stopped outside of the cinema. Well, it was better than nothing she supposed, but they wouldn't have any chance to talk, not unless they wanted to get thrown out.

Never having been on a proper date before, Rinoa had nothing to compare Squall's behaviour to. Were you supposed to talk in the taxi? Well, they hardly had. Question where you were going, and threaten them that if it wasn't a decent night out you'd complain? Rinoa wasn't sure.

OK, so Squall was cute, but then so was Seifer, at least he had been since he'd been punched in the face by Squall. At least she didn't have to guess Seifer's motives. Ok, scratch that, she didn't know where she stood with Seifer at all. Especially since the SeeDs had shown up.

Rinoa heart sank when she recognised two people she knew waiting in the line for tickets. Zell gave her a big thumbs-up when she looked his way. So much for a date, Rinoa thought, Squall had been joking after all.

Leaving Quistis in the queue, Zell joined them over by the door.

"How'd you make him change his mind?" Zell asked ignoring Squall.

Rinoa shrugged. She didn't realise that Squall had made a decision that she'd changed. He must really hate her company, if he'd decided that going somewhere he didn't want to be, was better than staying in with her.

"Home got boring," Squall said not looking at Rinoa.

Great, Rinoa thought, I'm boring as well, no wonder my friends ditched me.

"Oh, well, you're here now. So, Rinoa you looking forward to some blood and guts? _Monsters on the Island closest to Hell_, I heard someone gets their head ripped off."

Fantastic, Rinoa thought sarcastically, blood spurting, limbs separated from their owners… it certainly wasn't a date movie. She could kill Squall for making her sound like a twit. 'A date?' plur-lease! She could see his amused face again in her minds eye when he had said yes. She was such an idiot.

Feeling down, Rinoa excused herself to go and buy an ice-cream. Standing in the queue, she had the sense of someone watching her. At first she thought it was one of the SeeDs, and her heckles raised, they didn't even think she could buy an ice-cream by herself?

Turning around, her eyes locked with Selphie, and then past her to Seifer. Feeling the blood drain from her face, Rinoa looked back at the counter quickly, her heart pounding.

"You could have called me you know."

Rinoa looked back to see that Selphie was stood next to her now, Seifer was still keeping away. He looked rough, his nose had a plaster across it, and his right eye was slightly swollen and a murky purple and yellow colour.

"I tried, but you wouldn't answer…" Rinoa said, her voice shaking.

She wasn't really sure why she felt so terrible, she hadn't actually done anything wrong herself. It was all Squall's fault. Why wasn't Selphie accusing him?

"I don't mean all those texts you sent me, I mean after you left the club. You left me with some random guy Rin, and Seifer had to go to A and E. Some friend you are."

Rinoa could see in Selphie's eye that beneath her anger, she was genuinely hurt. Feeling ashamed, Rinoa stepped out of the queue so that she could give her her full attention. She hadn't been in fit state that night to do much, but leaving her friend with some man they didn't know was stupid and dangerous.

"Selphie, I'm sorry. But Squall and the others found me, I was too drunk to even know where I was, I wasn't thinking."

Selphie looked away.

"Please, I'm really really sorry. Did you get home OK? Was Seifer alright?" Rinoa asked, her voice panicky, she was worried that this was the only opportunity she was going to get to make things right with Selphie, and she couldn't help but think she was blowing it.

Selphie shrugged.

"Irvine took me home," Selphie said, then seeing Rinoa's surprised face. "Well, I was kinda drunk too, and I just thought, what the hell. You only live once right?"

Rinoa didn't know how to adjust to this revelation. Her first thought was if she hadn't gotten so drunk, none of this would have happened. Squall would have given Selphie a lift home too, because she would have asked him to. Her unconvinced expression prompted Selphie to say more.

"It was OK actually, had better; had worse."

The blasé way in which Selphie spoke about things, that would have Rinoa blushing like a tomato, made her laugh. The tension of before was quickly forgotten, and after that moment they were friends again. Or near enough.

As the laughter died, Rinoa had another thought, Selphie now even more ahead in the romantic stakes than she was, would she ever catch up? It seemed unlikely. Who'd want to date her with three SeeDs tagging along for good measure?

"And Seifer?" Rinoa prompted.

"Go ask him yourself."

* * *

Squall watched Rinoa leave the queue to speak to the girl with the flicked hair. He vaguely remembered her from a previous occasion, but had been too occupied with other thoughts then to pay her much attention. There seemed to be tension between them, and he watched Rinoa closely, in case she should get herself into trouble. 

After a few minutes Rinoa left the girl and walked towards someone he definitely knew. The guy he'd punched. He didn't know why it made him feel happy to see him with a plaster still over his nose, as it wasn't a very professional view to take. But then, that night hadn't exactly been very professional.

* * *

Rinoa didn't quite know what to say to Seifer, he wasn't smiling at her like he usually did, and she realised that whenever they'd talked before, he'd always led the conversations. 

"So," she said nervously. "How are you?"

He stared at her as if she was nuts.

"I see you brought your pet psychopath," he commented looking past her to where Squall was watching them. Rinoa didn't need to turn around to know of whom he was referring to.

Luckily Selphie decided to step in at that point, possibly feeling sorry for her friend, or just desperate to hurry things up and get into the movie.

"Rinoa's sorry, yadda yadda. Come on Seifer, it's not like you didn't deserve it, you were acting like a twat…"

There was a sort of stunned silence, since no one had been expecting Selphie to say anything in the first place, least of all that. Rinoa was about to backtrack on what Selphie had said and apologise for her, but Selphie beat her to it again.

"If you're seeing _Monsters on the Island _then come sit with us," she offered.

Seifer didn't look happy about the offer, looking over at Squall again and knowing that if they crossed paths once more, they'd be leaving with more than just black eyes. Rinoa knew that Selphie's offer didn't extend to the SeeDs, so she'd have to run it by them first. But if it was choice between sitting next to Squall who clearly didn't think of her as date material, and Seifer who possibly did, then it wasn't a hard decision to make.

* * *

Squall didn't like Rinoa sitting next to the blond man, something told him that Seifer was no good, but without any proof for his suspicions, there was nothing he could do about it. While Quistis and Zell had no problem with Rinoa sitting separate from them, Squall on the other hand instructed her to sit near the front, so that he could keep an eye on her from the back.

* * *

Somehow their friendship had been repaired, but it wasn't easy yet. But when the lights went down and the chatter died away, Rinoa began to relax. Selphie offered her a sip of her cola, and she cheekily helped herself to Seifer's popcorn. The film started with everyone jumping when the monster leapt from the left of the screen to bear its teeth. 

Laughing with Selphie at how stupid they were for being frightened, suddenly Rinoa was aware of something that made her heart pound faster than the movie monster. Seifer had put his arm around her, and gave her a confident wink when she shyly looked his way.

Knowing that her SeeD psychopath friend would be watching, Seifer looked behind at Squall. He grinned, managing to look smug even with a black eye.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing everyone! Hope no one's too disapointed that it wasn't really a date. _


	14. Double Date

**A/N: **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. This chapter is Rinoa and Selphie centric, in one sense nothing happens, in another, a whole lot does.

**Chapter Fourteen**

Selphie had demanded they double date as soon as they emerged from the cinema. Rinoa had barely time to adjust her eyes to the bright lights of the foyer, before Selphie had mapped out the rest of her life for her.

She wasn't too sure that she wanted her first ever date to be a double date. She didn't particularly want an audience to observe much of a terrible date she was bound to be. But then, with Selphie there, at least she'd be spared some blushes, as Selphie tended to step in when Rinoa found herself tongue-tied.

Seifer wasn't protesting, in fact he was eager for Rinoa to agree. Rinoa accepted sceptically; after being tricked by Squall because of her naivety and readiness to believe him, she was prepared for a disappointment.

By the time the SeeD's joined them, Selphie and Seifer were leaving. There was no animosity this time on Seifer's side when confronted with Squall, as far as he was concerned the SeeD had done him a favour. By appearing like the bigger man, he knew that Rinoa was grateful, and whatever he might actually feel; he could hide for now.

"I need chips," Zell exclaimed once they were out in the cold evening air.

Rinoa laughed, mainly because she was still giddy from being near Seifer, and because Zell was always vocal about his empty stomach.

"Yeah," Rinoa said. "Chips sound really good right now."

By the time they returned home, it was late, and being filled with greasy fried potatoes, Rinoa was in the mood for nothing but sleeping. She trudged up the stairs with heavy feet, and lost her shoes and coat in a heap by her bedroom door, and climbed into bed in nothing but her underwear.

She felt she had only just closed her eyes, when her alarm clock was bleeping for her to get up for school. The SeeDs didn't accompany her to school, they seemed to think that there was a limited amount of trouble she could get herself into on campus, and left her to it.

But like clockwork, as soon as she left her last lesson, Squall was waiting for her outside the gates. Adjusting the straps of her bag on her shoulder as she walked, Rinoa looked everywhere but into his eyes as she neared him. The way he watched her was uncomfortable, as if he was expecting a catastrophe to happen at any moment.

_Overprotective much?_ Rinoa thought as she walked. _I know it's his ass if something happens to me, but seriously, I can cross a road by myself, he doesn't have to watch._

"Rin, Rin, wait up!"

Rinoa didn't have to turn around to know that it was Selphie calling her. Selphie's hyper voice was unique. Rinoa stopped to let Selphie catch up with her.

"Irvine just cancelled on me, can I come round yours?"

Irvine is useless, Rinoa thought to herself, but she would never say it aloud. What could she say? Of course she wouldn't let Selphie down like her waste-of-space boyfriend, but Squall probably wouldn't be very pleased. She'd be doubling his workload, and she still hadn't gotten round to telling him that she was going out tonight. Just thinking about discussing her date plans with Squall made her cringe. Maybe she'd mention it to Quistis instead, if she were home.

"Sure Selph, but I really need to read that chapter before we go out…"

Selphie waved the suggestion of doing work away, and clung onto the fact that they would be hanging out all evening.

"Have you chosen your outfit yet?" she asked as they walked towards Squall, who was now getting back into the car.

"No, and don't say anything in front of Squall, I haven't told him yet," Rinoa said before stepping forwards to Squall's open window. She leaned forwards to peer in, and her bag fell from her shoulder, taking her shirt with it. "Selphie's coming round, OK?"

Rinoa stood up and realised that her bra-strap was on show, blushing, she covered it back up and hoped that Squall hadn't noticed.

After stopping at Selphie's house to pick up her clothes for later, they eventually made it home. By the time Squall had parked the car, he had made his peace with having to go out again later and chaperone Rinoa through her night out. He'd been informed of the plans when Selphie had ordered him to detour to her house for her 'pulling gear'.

"You know, you should really find something to wear now," Selphie said, clearly bored with reading their assigned chapter.

Rinoa put her book down; it would be probably better if she finished reading later, when she was on her own. Selphie collected their plates, from earlier when they had made a snack of sandwiches, and pushed them out of the way. Next she threw open Rinoa's wardrobe and began pulling out all her clothes.

The urge to tell Selphie to stop it, because she was making a mess was too strong to ignore, but too afraid of making her angry, Rinoa tempered her words down to, "I'll find something myself, you don't have to do that."

"You have a gold dress? It's really pretty," Selphie said holding it up. "It's more a cream colour actually…"

"It was my mothers," Rinoa said taking it out of Selphie's hands, and putting it back on the rail.

It was the most precious thing she owned, but she didn't like to wear it. It meant too much to be thrown away on something trivial like a date. Even if it was a first ever date.

"What's that noise?" Selphie asked suddenly, her head tilted for better hearing.

"The shower, the bathroom is next door," Rinoa said, hastily putting clothes back whilst Selphie was distracted. "It'll be Squall. He always goes in the shower at this time, he's really regimented about stuff like that."

"You should accidentally walk in," Selphie said with a wicked smile on her face.

"Selphie!" Rinoa exclaimed in genuine shock.

"No really, he's fit. Seriously, if I thought I'd get away with it, I'd go in there."

This time Rinoa knew she was joking, but she wasn't sure what to do with the mental images she had now. On one hand it was funny, on the other… well, she shouldn't be thinking Squall in the shower… that was…oh so…

"You're thinking about it now, aren't you?" Selphie said smirking. "I bet he's all covered in soap…" Selphie mimed rubbing shampoo into her hair.

Rinoa hit her playfully, her face scarlet.

"Shut up, I am so not…" but she couldn't bring herself to say anymore, as the laughter overwhelmed her.

* * *

As Selphie continued raiding Rinoa's wardrobe, Rinoa read though the messages on her phone. She had two.

_Hey babe, can't wait 2 C U 2nite. Pick U up at 7. Seifer X_

_Broke second controller, sorry. Zell._

Rinoa frowned, and walked to her games machine and picked up her controllers, one of the buttons had fallen off the second one. At least she wouldn't have to play two-player games with Zell anymore; it wasn't fun when you never won anything.

"He totally fancies you though," Selphie said randomly as she painted her nails.

They were both pretty much ready to go out now, they had half an hour till Seifer arrived to pick them up, and they were sat looking out of the window.

"Who?" Rinoa asked.

"Squall," Selphie said in a voice that said Rinoa was stupid. She lifted her hand to inspect her nail varnish, and ignored Rinoa's goldfish expression. "He's _always_ staring at you."

"He is not!"

Selphie raised her eyebrow.

"Sure. Well, why did he spend all night looking for you in the club, or lie to your dad, and why does he keep on insisting on driving you around everywhere? You could have taken the bus home today, but he came to get you."

Rinoa couldn't think of anything to say for a moment. Selphie was obviously just reading into events too closely. It was Squall's job to do all of those things. Yet, when Selphie said it, it did seem a little strange that he'd put himself out so much.

"He's the commander of Balamb Garden Selph, he wouldn't be interested in me," Rinoa said trying to end the subject.

"He's still a guy Rin," Selphie said knowingly. "But, if you say so."


	15. Dinner

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews everyone! There is a swear word in this chapter, but just the one.

**Chapter Fifteen**

The SeeD's were going to follow Seifer into town, but were going their own way from there on in. Rinoa was going to have two hours alone, then they would meet up again, and go home. Rinoa didn't know what the SeeD's were going to do for two hours, but she didn't want to enquire too closely in case they changed their minds.

Selphie had finally persuaded her to wear her knee-high boots, but Rinoa was determined to cover up everything from the knee upwards. She chose a black polo neck jumper and a denim skirt, Seifer had seen her in less, but she felt weird showing skin tonight. Selphie on the other hand was wearing tiny shorts over the top of dark tights.

"Aren't you cold?" Rinoa asked as they stood on the side of the road waiting for Seifer.

"Yeah," Selphie replied, her teeth chattering slightly. "But you have to suffer for fashion darling! Besides, Irvine's being weird, and I want to show him what he'll be missing if he doesn't change."

They could hear a car engine now, and as it grew closer they saw headlights, and then Seifer pulled up in front of them. The music playing in his car was so loud that they could barely hear him shout "Alright?" to them before they got in.

"Looking hot Selphie," Seifer said grinning as Selphie climbed into the back.

"Well if you've got it…" Selphie joked strapping herself in.

Rinoa smiled nervously as she took the front seat next to Seifer, she blushed when he grinned at her.

"Hmm, very nice," he said unashamedly staring at her chest.

Rinoa blushed even harder and looked away. She wasn't quite sure how to react, on one hand she knew she should be offended, but on the other she was flattered that he thought so. After all, he was the only guy who'd ever showed any interest, so she couldn't afford to be picky.

"Where's Irvine?" Selphie demanded.

"Erm, he's going to join us later… said he had something to do first."

Something in Seifer's tone of voice told Rinoa that he was hiding something. Irvine was doing something Selphie wouldn't be happy about, and Selphie seemed to observe the same thing. Rinoa could almost see Selphie's mind working, she could see that she wasn't about to appear annoyed in Seifer's company, he'd only tell Irvine about her reaction and make it worse.

"Fine. Well, let's go, Rin only has two hours."

They parked in town, and walked down the street to a restaurant. Rinoa was impressed, they had never been anywhere like this before. She wasn't the only one happy with the night's venue either.

"Fancy," Selphie commented as they walked through the doors. "This place is going to cost a fortune."

"Not for you girls," Seifer said. "What kind of date would I be if I made you pay?"

Rinoa smiled, she had nothing to say to that. She wished she could think of something witty and funny to say, she'd even settle for something boring right now, but her mind was blank.

The waiter seated them by the window, so that they could see the passing traffic and people wandering down the road to their various destinations. Rinoa chose the chair in the corner, she felt that was the safest looking one, where she wouldn't be in the line of fire should they start teasing one another.

Selphie was looking glum, she couldn't hide anymore that she was annoyed that Irvine still hadn't showed. Rinoa felt sorry for her, but she hoped that after tonight, Selphie and Irvine would be finished.

"We should order," Seifer said. His words cemented the fact that it was unlikely Irvine was going to show up.

Rinoa looked at the menu, sharing it with Selphie, Seifer watched her closely. Rinoa knew she was blushing, and it was getting increasingly difficult to choose what she wanted as she was too distracted, she looked up, and Seifer was no longer looking at her. Had she been imagining it?

"How about a steak Selphie?" Seifer asked smirking; he laughed when Selphie's face turned into a look of disgust.

"I'm a vegetarian!" she exclaimed. "You are the worst friend ever, I've been a vegetarian since I was five."

Selphie's tone of voice was clear to all that she wasn't play fighting, she was annoyed and Seifer's throwaway comment might have just tipped her over the edge. Rinoa sat quietly, she hadn't known Selphie was a vegetarian… in fact she was sure she'd seen Selphie eating burgers on nights out, but then again she had been drunk, and unable to remember her name, let alone that what she was eating was meat.

"I'll have the vegetable lasagne," she said pushing the menu towards Rinoa. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Should I go after her?" Rinoa asked concerned. She stood up to follow, but Seifer touched her arm.

"No, stay here, we should make the most of being alone," he said, his eyes looking sincere.

He was right, they'd never been alone before, and Rinoa might have been more comfortable had he not mentioned that fact. She sat back down slowly, trying to waste as much time as she could before Selphie came back.

"So," Seifer said, the word dragging, "why did you never talk to me before?"

Rinoa frowned. OK, so she'd never been at her most chattiest in front of Seifer, but that was only because she had thought he didn't like her, and then he was always hanging out with other people when they were out together, it wasn't just her fault they'd never really spoken.

"You could have talked to _me_. Besides, I didn't think you liked me much, you know, just turning up out of nowhere, and hanging out with you," Rinoa confessed, she'd never talked about this with anyone, not even Selphie, how she had felt like she had been intruding on their friendships.

Seifer shrugged.

"No one cared, you seen the people we usually meet up with, one more wasn't going to make a difference."

Oh great, Rinoa thought, no one had even noticed her. She'd tried so hard to get along with them all, and never disagree with their plans, that she had blended into the background and been forgotten about.

"Oh," Rinoa said quietly, "Right."

"Where the hell is Selphie?" Seifer asked looking around annoyed. Rinoa guessed he'd had enough of making conversation for now.

"There," Rinoa said pointing, to where Selphie was stood with her arms folded as Irvine desperately tried to get her to forgive him.

Eventually the pair joined them at the table and turned the air frosty. Rinoa stared at her menu again, uncomfortable with the situation. She was having a hard enough time being on her own date, to worry about how Selphie's was going.

She wondered what the SeeDs were doing, they were no doubt having a better time than she was. She checked her watch, they had wasted twenty minutes with ordering food and waiting for Irvine, and now they would waste even more waiting for the food to arrive.

"Did you finish your essay babes?" Irvine asked, but Selphie's face was still stony and annoyed and she clearly hadn't forgiven him yet.

"It wasn't an essay, that was last week, I had to read a chapter," Selphie said loftily, turning towards Rinoa so that she wouldn't have to look at him.

Rinoa watched Seifer give him a strange look that said I'm glad I'm not you. He smiled at Rinoa when he caught her looking.

"Alright? Want another drink?" he asked looking at Rinoa's empty cola glass. "Sure," Rinoa said smiling. "Selphie, do you want one?"

Selphie shrugged and started playing with her phone.

"Rinoa, why don't you come help me carry them," Seifer said standing, and then walking to the bar. Rinoa followed him, grateful to get away. "I'm sorry, it was supposed to be fun tonight. We should have gone on our own somewhere."

"It's OK, it's not your fault. Why was Irvine late anyway?" Rinoa asked as they waited for their drinks.

"He's being a twat, he's wanted to get with Selphie for forever, now he's fucking it up. She'll dump him eventually if he carries on."

"Can't you tell him to stop being an idiot then?" Rinoa asked.

Seifer shrugged and changed the subject; he clearly wasn't that bothered whether Irvine sorted himself out or not.

"My new TV arrives tomorrow, flat screen," he said handing over his credit card to the man behind the bar. "Want to come round and see it?"

Rinoa bit her lip. Go round to his house? She'd never been to Seifer's house before, not even with Selphie, and since he always drove they'd never dropped him home, and she didn't know where he lived anyway.

"Um, sure, maybe," Rinoa said hoping that she sounded vague and cool.

By the time they returned to the table, Selphie was laughing, and Irvine was looking pleased with himself. Rinoa could see that Selphie was now wearing a new necklace.

"Look, Rinoa, see what Irvine bought me, isn't it lush!" Selphie said forcing Rinoa to agree as she showed off her necklace. "He's so thoughtful."

Yeah, Rinoa thought, so thoughtful that he left you waiting for him all afternoon, and only barely made their date. But he'd saved the evening, by chance or design, and with the bad atmosphere left behind, by the time the food arrived they were laughing and joking again like usual.


	16. Never Had A Boyfriend

**A/N: **This chapter puts the rating up to a 'T'. I hope after reading this chapter you'll realised that Seifer is NOT the one that Rinoa should be with, big surprise! Thanks to chrisVIII, Hououza, Alantie Mistaniu, Freyjadour, and Cerulean Crystal for reviewing the last chapter.

**Chapter Sixteen**

"You know, we should split after we've finished eating," Seifer suggested putting too much steak into his mouth. "We could take my car off road."

Rinoa knew she should stop the conversation right now, as she knew she'd be in big trouble if she weren't waiting for the SeeDs when they came to pick her up. But then again, it was unlikely that Seifer and the rest would put up with her for much longer if she had all these stupid rules about what she could and couldn't do. She had such an early curfew tonight that it was pathetic.

"But your car can't go off road," Selphie pointed out whilst shaking her head. "Besides, Rin has to go home."

"Not the car I'm driving tonight, the four by four I'm fixing up for Martin," Seifer explained. "Martin's the one the police were looking for that night, so he's owes us one. But, it's up to Rinoa."

They all looked at Rinoa. Seifer was grinning, Selphie was trying to hide her excitement and Irvine was almost begging, obviously hoping to make it up further with Selphie. Rinoa bit her lip, she was doubtful that Squall would cover for her with her father again, she was already on her last chance. She didn't doubt that if they left and other SeeDs came to watch her, they wouldn't quiet so forgiving.

"I need to make a call," Rinoa said taking her phone from her bag and walking away from the table and to the ladies. She dialled Quistis' number and waited. "Hey Quistis, is it a good time to talk?"

Rinoa could hear lots of voices in the background and laughter; she wondered where Quistis was, and what they were doing.

"Sure, I've got ten minutes till the interval ends," Quistis said, "What's happened?"

"Nothing, well, it's just that I want to stay out later, but I know Squall will be mad if I do. Seifer is going to drive me home, and no one is going to be drinking. It's just, I've never had a boyfriend before, and I…"

"Rinoa, calm down. Look, if I agree then I'm the one who takes the blame if it goes wrong. I could lose my job. So, do you still want to stay out?" Quistis asked knowing she had given Rinoa a real dilemma.

"Yes, I do."

"OK, you have until midnight, I can't do any better than that," Quistis said before ending the call.

Rinoa smiled and hurried back to her friends, happy. She gave them a thumbs-up as she neared them.

"Yes!" Selphie screamed. "This is going to be ace, thanks Rin."

"I have to be back by midnight, or I am in serious trouble," she made sure that her voice told them all that she wasn't joking.

They nodded and Seifer promised to get her back home on time, or she could have his brand new TV. It cost a fortune apparently. Smiling, Rinoa joined in the excitement, hardly believing that an evening that had started out so terrible could end up being so much fun.

After everything was decided, and they had finished their food the gang split into teams of two, Selphie and Irvine, Rinoa and Seifer, to meet up at Seifer's house. Rinoa waved Selphie down the road, and then turned to walk in the opposite direction with Seifer to where he had parked his car.

He grinned at her every few steps they took, and from the way he was looking at her Rinoa expected him to suggest that they ditch Selphie and Irvine for some time on their own. But he kept whatever he was thinking to himself, and Rinoa was glad. She really didn't know what she would say if he'd suggested it. She blushed as she walked, because really didn't know what her answer would be…but she didn't want to have to make that choice just yet.

"You sure the SeeDs are cool with you staying out?" Seifer asked.

Rinoa was glad that he was being so understanding of her situation, it brought back Selphie's warnings about him once again and pushed them further away. If he really _was_ just after one thing, would he be this considerate? Wouldn't he just suggest they go back to his or something? If he did, then at least Rinoa would know where she stood with him, as it was, she didn't know what he wanted, and it was difficult to know how to feel about it.

Shouldn't she want to sleep with him, wasn't that the whole point of having a boyfriend? But then why was she so nervous? She wished she was brave enough to ask Seifer what he wanted, but how could she if she didn't know what she wanted in return? …was it supposed to be this complicated?

"What are you thinking about?" Seifer asked as they neared the car.

"Nothing," Rinoa lied. She was too chicken to tell the truth. "What about you?"

"I was thinking just how hot your ass looks in that skirt," Seifer said staring without shame.

Rinoa was speechless; she got into the car without saying anything. After Seifer started the engine Rinoa realised she needed to say something, or they might spend the whole journey in silence.

"Um, thanks," she said making Seifer grin even harder. "Is your house far?"

Seifer shook his head. He was driving fast again, with the music loud, and Rinoa supposed nowhere was far when you drove everywhere like a rally driver. Gripping the seat Rinoa tried to smile and look like she was enjoying the ride, but her insides were screaming danger, it no longer seemed funny to go so fast.

They took many back roads until they were on the edge of town and driving down a road that didn't look so well cared for. There were kids toys on front lawns, but they all looked old and broken. Rinoa tried not to cast a judgement on the kind of people who lived here, after all she owned nothing herself, the house that she lived in was her father's, she was no better than anyone here.

Seifer pulled up in front of a house that had an old paddling pool in the front garden and cut the engine.

"Do you have younger brothers and sisters?" Rinoa asked looking at the inflatable pool.

"Nah, mum looks after the neighbour's kids when they work," Seifer said following her gaze. "Come on."

They went into Seifer's house to wait for Selphie and Irvine, in the kitchen sat a woman who looked as if she had had a long day. Rinoa smiled in greeting, and thought that if she'd looked after kids all day long, then she'd be looking just as tired.

"Mum, this is Rinoa," Seifer said as he walked past her to the fridge. "You want a drink?"

"Sure," Rinoa said nervous under the woman's stare. She had just begun to relax and now she was on edge again. "Hi," she added to be polite to Seifer's mother.

"I'm going to turn in, your dad is working late tonight, but I just don't think I can wait up any longer," she said to explain why she was leaving. "It was nice to meet you Rinoa."

"She's going because she thinks I want to do you on the kitchen table," Seifer said his cocky grin in place.

Rinoa snorted. But then began to question herself. He was joking surely. Right? He didn't actually think that I might do that?

"No way, she didn't really think that?" Rinoa said covering her shocked face with her hand.

"Don't fancy it then?" Seifer asked.

"Stop it!" Rinoa said folding her arms.

Seifer disappeared behind the open fridge door and Rinoa took in a shaky breath. Where the hell was Selphie? She realised that she was totally out of her depth here, and not having decided what she wanted to do about it yet, she knew that if Seifer wanted something more, she'd be easily led.

Seifer handed her a beer and she opened the can and drank it down greedily, she needed courage and she didn't care whether it came from within or from a can.

"Can I use you bathroom?" Rinoa asked after finishing the can.

By time she came downstairs Selphie was waiting in the hallway, and ran past her to use the bathroom also.

"Seifer said I'd have to go on the side of the road if you'd been any longer," Selphie joked when she returned.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were waiting," Rinoa said as they left the house. "I was redoing my eyeliner."

Off-roading was the craziest thing that Rinoa had ever done. The beer was now sufficiently warming her blood so that her nerves had mellowed, and being thrown around with every bump they went over was hysterically funny.

It wasn't hard to realise that this was what she preferred to do with Seifer, rather than dates, this wasn't weird, or awkward, and she didn't have to think about anything. By the time she returned home, she was flushed from her first real kiss with Seifer. At first it had been strange, she hadn't known where to put her tongue, and she wasn't sure why Seifer insisted on biting her bottom lip, but she supposed it wasn't too bad, and probably improved upon practice.

Quistis had been waiting for her to walk through the door, and had said only a few words, but they had been enough to tell Rinoa that her night of freedom could have come at a very high price.

"Thank you coming home Rinoa."


	17. Music Box Doll

**A/N:** I know, die Seifer die! It's taken me a while to get to this chapter, I've been longing to write it, but I had to reign myself in for the sake of the plot. Darn you plot! Thank you for all the reviews!!

**Chapter Seventeen**

Squall was leaning on his bedroom door, his arms folded and his face stern. Rinoa knew why he was angry; she'd overruled his decision by going to Quistis, like a child playing one parent off another. She tried to smile at him, but he wouldn't return it.

"Quistis did a big favour for you tonight," he said walking to her door and standing in the way, so that she couldn't escape him. "You thanked her I suppose?"

Being reminded of her manners only annoyed Rinoa, she was going to, tomorrow in fact, and she didn't need telling by him.

"Yes, I was going to," she said loftily, "If you would get out of the way now."

Squall didn't move. Rinoa tried reaching around him for the door handle, but he remained in the way, not caring how embarrassingly close she had in order to open the door.

"She took a risk tonight, and I don't think you understand just how big that risk was," he continued, ignoring the fact that she was scowling at him.

Rinoa sighed overdramatically with frustration.

"Yes, I know," she said rolling her eyes. "She could have lost her job…"

Squall stepped aside abruptly and pushed Rinoa into her room, he slammed the door behind them. Rinoa stared at him scandalised.

"What now?" she hissed, keeping her voice quiet so that she didn't alert her father.

"Don't you care?" he accused. "Does it mean nothing to you, are you that shallow?"

"I am not shallow!" Rinoa shouted throwing her bag at him. "I'm not."

She sat on the end of her bed and allowed herself to cry. She refused to look at him as the silent tears fell down onto her lap. Squall stood holding her bag, which he had caught when she had unexpectedly hurled it his way. He realised that he'd struck a nerve somewhere.

"By overruling my decision, Quistis put her SeeD rank on the line. Had her decision to trust you been wrong, she would have been demoted."

Rinoa wiped her eyes, there was no need for him to keep going on about it; she felt bad enough already.

"I'm sorry," Rinoa said in a shaky breath. "I didn't realise…"

Even though Quistis had told her herself on the phone that her job had been on the line, she hadn't really believed it. In her world there was always a second chance, no matter how bad it got. In Squall's there was only the one. Get it wrong, and you were finished. She understood now.

"No, you never realise," he said walking across her room. "You only think of yourself."

"No…I…" Rinoa stammered.

"Do you want to know the difference between us?" Squall asked.

"Not really," Rinoa said, she'd had enough of being admonished, especially when the one doing it was right.

"I'm working towards something, I care about where my life is going," Squall said before picking up a box from one of Rinoa's shelves. "This is you."

He opened the box to reveal a miniature ballet dancer, on a revolving mechanism. When the box had been opened, the tiny pretty doll had started to spin.

"All you care about is wasting your life away, with people who don't care about you. Do you even have any ambitions Rinoa? If you do I'm sure your 'friends' won't help you realise them. Although I bet I can guess Seifer's goal, although you seem pretty clueless," he said, he knew his words were harsh, and he could tell that he was hurting her from the look on her tearstained face. He knew also, that he was speaking aloud all her deepest darkest thoughts about herself and making her face them.

"You are that doll, you're turning around and around on the spot, and unless you start respecting yourself, and working harder, you are going nowhere."

He left her with only the twinkling music of the jewellery box and her tears for company. Rinoa snapped the box shut; she didn't want to listen to it anymore. In her minds eye she could still see the doll twirling around, her ever-smiling face a mask to what she was really thinking.

He was right. Her life was going nowhere. She hated him for being right.

"And you're the box," she whispered, "Keeping everything hidden within, in control of everything, in control of me."

* * *

The drive to school was the most uncomfortable she had ever experienced. She had thought that he might have asked one of the others to take her, but when she had walked outside, he was waiting for her, like always.

"I have only half a day today," she said nervously, she didn't like to be the one to break the silence, but she had to. "Photography is cancelled, can you pick me up early? At one?"

He said nothing.

Really, at her reckoning she should have been the one to be angry with him, after all that he'd said to her last night. But she'd cried herself out after he'd left, and had then made peace with herself. Her life was going off track, he was right, and it hadn't really been him she was upset with, it was herself.

"Squall can we just forget about last night?" she asked knowing that she was going to have to make the first move in the forgiveness stakes. "I'll buy you an ice-cream afterward school … please?" Rinoa said with the sweetest smile she could manage. She saw Squall look at her sideways, and knew that he was trying his best to be annoyed with her.

"Ice-cream is not a Garden recommend source of nutrition," Squall said refusing to look at her anymore.

"Oh yeah, well what is then?" Rinoa challenged fully facing him and staring at him so that he was forced to answer. There was silence for a long time.

"Lettuce," Squall said seriously.

Rinoa snorted and burst into laughter, cutting off what was going to be a long list of healthy foods. The word seemed to echo in the car, and with Rinoa's hysteric laughing, Squall was forced to listen to how random his answer had sounded. He smiled in spite of himself.

"OK, _I'll_ have an ice-cream, and you can have a lettuce. Come on, Squall, one ice-cream won't kill you, pretty please? You really have to ease up on the whole rules thing, it's really sad having a shower at the same time everyday… and you should stop taking phone calls all the time, it'd rude you know to ignore people…"

"That's it," Squall said stopping the car just outside of the school gates, "Get out."

Rinoa stuck her tongue out at him, and got out of the car.

"One O Clock, you better be here Commander!" she teased before slamming the car door and hurrying up the road towards her school.

Squall rolled his eyes before driving away. Really she had been surprisingly OK with him this morning; he had been expecting her to come at him guns blazing. In the light of things he'd take the poisonous ice-cream over anything else she might have to throw at him.

* * *

Squall sat staring at the ice-cream that was sure to kill him. It had every possible bad thing on it that ice-cream could have. Chocolate sauce, rainbow sprinkles, hot fudge, marshmallows, cherries, a chocolate flake, strawberry sauce and miniature toffees. Just looking at it was enough.

"Isn't it the yummiest thing you've ever seen?" Rinoa asked excitedly pushing her spoon all the way to the bottom of the glass to get at the chocolate sauce. Rinoa's ice-cream was the same as Squall, but with cream on top, Squall had had to draw the line somewhere.

"You're not eating," she said disappointed that Squall wasn't enjoying himself. "You'll like it, I swear."

Squall decided that he wasn't going to get any peace unless he ate the entire monstrosity of a snack, and picked up the spoon. He copied Rinoa and tried to find the chocolate sauce at the bottom, this seemed to make her happy, and she began talking.

"Do you think I should cut my hair?" Rinoa asked him running her fingers through it and making it sway.

Squall shrugged.

"It's _your_ hair," he said unhelpfully.

Rinoa frowned.

"Yeah, but do you like it long?" she asked, then realising that she wasn't going to get an answer she added: "You either do or you don't Squall."

"OK, fine, I like it long," Squall said defeated. It wasn't a lie either, Rinoa did have nice hair, it was soft, and in the mornings it was usually ruffled and all over the place, and kinda unwittingly sexy…. and he really had to stop thinking about that now.

"Well I wont cut it then, I'll keep it the way it is, just for you," Rinoa said looking at him from under her eye lashes and smiling at his puzzled face.

Is she flirting with me? Squall wondered. No, it had to be his imagination she was interested in that Seifer guy, or at least, _he_ was interested in her if nothing else. But that may well be enough. He knew guys like Seifer usually got their way, and he had no idea why girls couldn't seem to stay away from them, and that was a good enough reason as any not to like Rinoa's friend.

"Are you Ok?" Rinoa asked after Squall had been still for too long, lost in his own thoughts.

"Just savouring the ice-cream," he lied.

Rinoa smiled.

"See, I told you you'd like it! Wait until you try the Banana split toffee fudge sundae, it has…"

"OK, I know what you're trying to do," Squall said interrupting her before she begin listing the ingredients of doom. "You're trying to kill me with E-numbers, to get me back for last night."

Rinoa blushed and looked away.

"I'm not. Can we just get off the subject of last night? I'm shamed enough as it is," she said dipping her spoon back into the ice cream.

"I didn't mean to upset you…"

Rinoa shook her head.

"It's OK, what you said was true… but maybe you should be more tactful next time." She smiled to show there were no hard feelings.

"Point taken," Squall said still feeling guilty. She was right, he should have been more diplomatic; she hadn't deserved to have all her faults shouted at her when she had been unprepared.

"I think we should make a deal," Rinoa suggested. "I'll become more studious, if you have some fun sometimes."

She waited for an answer to what she thought was a reasonable trade. He offered her his hand to shake and they sealed the deal.

"Awesome," Rinoa said before returning to her ice-cream and scooping marshmallows into her mouth. "So where did you go last night?"

Squall had trouble making out her words through the slur of the marshmallows, but he answered the question he thought he heard.

"Theatre. Quistis wanted to see 'Esthar Dreams'."

Rinoa swallowed her latest spoonful quickly.

"I wanted to see that!" she said excited. "Was it good?"

Squall fought back a smile.

"Zell loved it, he bought the soundtrack."

Rinoa laughed.

"No, it was OK, I'd see it again."

"I'm surprised you like musicals," Rinoa said still laughing. "Most guys don't."

Squall frowned.

"Hey, now I'm not saying it's my number one choice…"

"It's Ok, I won't tell anyone," she said grinning. "But you have to take me with you next time, no one else will go."

"I'm not sure I want to take you if I'm the last resort."

Rinoa sighed.

"But you love musicals!" she insisted. "Come on."

Squall knew there was no use arguing, he was condemned to sit through Esthar Dreams once again, and although the show had enough of a storyline to carry it through one viewing, he wasn't sure it would hold his interest a second time. He'd have to find something else to look at.


	18. Clari?

**A/N:** Oww, I hate winter, I'm ill again, and feel sick. I want to live somewhere warm. But enough about me. Thank you to those that reviewed the last chapter!

**Chapter Eighteen**

By the time they returned home even Rinoa was feeling sick from the copious amount of sugar she had eaten. She followed Squall into her father's study and sat down heavily on the dark leather sofa. She watched him start up the computer on her father's desk wondering what was wrong with him, and why he could never chill out.

"Oh good, you're home," Quistis said appearing in the doorway. "I've been trying to call you all afternoon. We have an incident."

Squall looked up from his emails, Quistis' face was filled with worry, although she was holding it back under her professional demeanour.

"Rinoa, would you please give us a minute," Quistis asked kindly. Rinoa looked at Squall, wondering if he might fight her cause and let her stay, but he said nothing. Sighing she stood up and left the room.

"What's happened?"

"One of our cadets was seriously injured in the field, they've taken her to Deling City hospital. In your absence I called her parents, of course I discussed it with the headmaster before I acted. They are going to arrive later this evening."

Squall stared at the computer, his mind had stopped working, everything was blank. This was the first group of SeeD cadets that he had overseen the examination mission for, and it had been difficult enough not having the knowledge of past experiences to fall back on, without something else happening to cause him to fail.

Standing he walked towards Quistis, then back to the desk. He felt lost, he was supposed to be in charge, but he had allowed himself a moment of relaxed responsibilities.

This always happens, he thought. You allow yourself one moment where you look the other way, and something bad ensues. Rinoa is wrong, he added to himself bitterly, I can't allow myself to let my guard down and live a life, I have people depending on me, I can't let them down. I know what it's like to be let down, to be left on your own, and I wont make the same mistakes those people did.

"Where is Zell?" Squall asked still pacing; slowly his brain was beginning to switch back to its calm and collected manner.

"At the hospital, I told him to wait there. When we arrive he will go to the train station and wait for Clari's parents."

"Clari?" Squall questioned.

It was girl Rinoa had expressed concerns over, who had looked so young and out of place. He remembered telling her that Clari was ready to take the exam if her instructor had deemed her to be. Had he been wrong, and Rinoa's intuition right? He wouldn't know until he found out what had happened.

"Yes. We should get going, she's in a stable condition, but we should be there anyway," Quistis said leaving the room and passing Rinoa in the hallway.

Rinoa tried to catch Quistis' eye, but she was too lost in her own thoughts to notice that Rinoa wanted to speak to her. Squall followed her a moment later, his face equally concerned. Rinoa followed them, the silence making her nervous.

"Where are you going?" she asked after seeing Squall pull his car keys out from his pocket. "Can I go with you?"

"No, I haven't got time for this Rinoa," Squall said coldly. Rinoa frowned, he sounded like the man who had first walked through her front door, the first day she had met him. Cold, professional, confident, and distant, not the Squall that she knew, who had slowly begun to talk more and more to her. This change confused her, and only acted to make her more worried.

"You can't leave me here on my own. I'll run away, I swear I will!" she shouted desperately, trying to make him care. She couldn't bear that he might be leaving her behind to return to his real job, his real life.

"Fine," Squall said, not caring how his words sounded. "I don't care." He was too worried himself, and if he would own the feeling; frightened, to notice Rinoa's concerns.

"But…" Rinoa said. She didn't know what to say to keep herself in his world. They were so apart, and it didn't even take this serious event to make her realise it. She had tried to think that he had been keeping her company because he liked her, and even if he did, he was still going to leave. When his contact ran out, he would be gone. He'd leave her alone with her friends that didn't care, and a brutally realised view of her life.

"Just do what you want Rinoa," he said opening the door.

I've allowed myself too much freedom here, Squall thought; I have to get back to Garden and back to work. There is one more week to spend here, and then my contract expires. I can't stay here and become a teenager, I've worked too hard to get where I am, and I can't let it slip away, not even… to be normal.

Rinoa stood stunned. She had thought that they had become closer over the afternoon. Had he been just passing time? She was good enough to be spoken to when there was nothing else to do. But she was bottom of the pile the rest of the time.

Quistis gave her a commiserating look, and then followed Squall. Rinoa stood considering her limited options. She had three choices, and they might all take her down different paths. She could either walk out of that door and find Seifer, and hope that she might be happy in her ignorant life, or she could go upstairs and dig out her schoolbooks and aim higher. Or, she could follow Squall, and try to be worthy of his friendship.

"Wait!" she shouted running down the path and slamming shut Squall's open car door before he could climb inside. "You can't just abandon me just because things are getting tough for you. I don't know what's going on, but I can help."

Squall folded his arms and looked down at the ground.

"Just get in the car," he said eventually, knowing that he couldn't waste anymore time arguing.

* * *

Rinoa tagged along behind the two SeeDs as they walked into the hospital, she followed them into the lift and stood in silence as they travelled up the floors. She didn't have much experience of hospitals, and she didn't know what to expect. They left the lift for the busy ward in which there were many people, all in different uniforms walking this way and that, occupied with their tasks.

Quistis lead them up to a desk where two women sat behind it, one on the phone and the other furiously writing in a file. The woman on the phone looked up and recognised Quistis, she held up a finger and mouthed 'just one second'. Rinoa studied Squall's face, he was clearly as unsure of hospitals as she was; his face was a mixture of concern and something indecipherable, as if he'd hidden his true feelings away.

"You can go on in, she's still as you left her," the woman said to them, when there was a break in her phone conversation.

Quistis nodded and lead the way into a side room off the main ward bay. Rinoa followed, but then stopped outside of the room, knowing that it wasn't her place to intrude on the injured person, and instead chose to sit in one of the visitor's chairs outside of the room.

There was a conversation happening in the patient's room in which Rinoa could hear every word.

"It was a monster that we've never seen before," Zell was saying. "It used some kind of magic that we couldn't deflect. It knocked her out cold. We quarantined the monster back at the army base, for future testing."

"What did you tell her parents?" Squall asked.

"That she had been injured and that it was advisable for them to come here as quickly as possible," Quistis answered. "Although the medical staff said she was stable, they don't know what is wrong, and didn't know whether she would remain that way or deteriorate."

"Zell I want you to stay here. I'm going to the train station to collect her parents," Squall said reappearing at the door.

Rinoa stood up when she saw Squall, every time she looked at his face it was growing paler and more serious. He looked into her eyes, then past her.

"Squall," Quistis called from the doorway. "Why don't you take Rinoa with you? They might respond to her better."

Squall shrugged and walked away. Rinoa looked to Quistis for some explanation, she hated being in the dark. She was beginning to piece things together, that a girl had been attacked and that she was now ill. But why had she been hurt? And why did Quistis want her to go with Squall?

"He's not so good with words," Quistis said as soon as Squall was out of earshot.

Rinoa frowned; he'd always been perfectly fine with her. He was a little quiet, granted, and she tended to be the one talking the most, but she'd never formed the same opinion as Quistis.

"Really?" Rinoa asked surprised. "I don't think so."

Quistis raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if you've managed to get more than a few words out of him, then you're the only one," she said, a small smile on her face. "It's just, it might be best if you go mediate the situation, he can be very to the point, and sometimes quite blunt, and this really isn't a good time for that."

Rinoa nodded, she'd had experience of that side of Squall first hand.


	19. The PopChoc

**Author's Note: **Thank you reviewers! If anyone is wondering where Selphie and Seifer have gone, I'm afraid I haven't finished with them yet. But for now, lets just enjoy the squinoa.

**Chapter Nineteen**

Rinoa stared out of the window as they drove towards the station, the weather was changing rapidly; dark clouds were gathering overhead of them, and soon it would rain. She bit her lip, she wasn't sure whether she really wanted to be here in this car, on her way to impart bad news to some poor parents who were probably sick with worry already. But, she wouldn't complain. Squall was probably feeling the same after all.

Squall parked the car outside of the terminal building, with a good view of the exit, although it was soon to be obscured by the pelting rain.

"Good job we didn't walk," Rinoa commented looking up at the sky. "It's been a while since we had rain."

The colder it grew outside, the more the car steamed up in the inside, and Rinoa found herself wiping at the windows with her sleeve.

"Do you want something from the shop?" she asked, the atmosphere inside the car beginning to become oppressive with the task ahead.

Squall shook his head, but Rinoa knew that he hadn't even heard her; he was staring straight forwards and lost in his own thoughts.

"I'll be five minutes," Rinoa said opening the door and stepping out into the rain.

She wandered around the small shop for longer than she had said she would take, mainly because she wasn't ready yet to face more silence. She looked at the gifts that were on offer for visitors to the city, postcards, sweets in fancy bags, and other eclectic items with words Deling City etched onto them.

Taking a basket, she started adding items without taking too much care over what she chose, and took it to the till to pay. She kept an eye on Squall's car from the window, in case something changed. But when she ventured out into the rain again, she saw he was still there, by himself.

"That was longer than five minutes," he said gruffly when she climbed back into the car, this time choosing the back seat.

"Aw," Rinoa said shrugging her off coat. "Did you miss me?"

Squall looked back out the front again and said nothing more. He didn't look back at her until she began climbing into the front seat, over the handbrake.

"I bought you something," she said handing over a paper bag.

Squall opened it, expecting something equally as sickly as the ice-cream he had been forced to eat, but was surprised.

"Fruit?"

Rinoa smiled.

"See, I care," she said before opening a chocolate bar. "But if I've corrupted you in the ways of the sugar, it's too bad, because you're not having any of mine."

Squall watched her from the corner of his eye, he hoped that she didn't realise that he was looking her way, because she was at her most interesting when she thought she wasn't being noticed.

Cocking her head to the side, Rinoa examined her chocolate bar, and tapped her foot. Without realising she began humming something quietly, a tune that she invented as she went along. She sighed and wiped at the window, then shuffled in her seat.

"I'm bored," she declared wrapping her half eaten chocolate bar up. "Let's play a game. The next woman that walks by, you have to marry… ok go."

Rinoa watched intently for someone to walk by, while Squall waited to find out whom he had to spend the rest of his life with. After five minutes Rinoa was fidgeting again.

"Where is everyone?" she complained staring up and down the path.

"There is a torrential downpour happening right now," Squall said looking up at the sky. Rinoa frowned, she supposed it had been a stupid idea after all, who would be walking about in this weather?

"What are you eating anyway?" Squall asked looking at the chocolate in her hand.

She looked down at it as if she had forgotten she was holding it.

"It's chocolate covered biscuit, fruit and popcorn," Rinoa explained, "It's called a '_Popchoc_'."

Squall raised his eyebrows, it sounded terrible and he couldn't understand why Rinoa would have chosen that particular bar from a multitude of others less unusual.

"Give it here," Squall said holding his hand out. Rinoa automatically moved to give him the sweet, but then stopped.

"No," she said snatching it away. Why did he want it anyway? And she'd made it perfectly clear that he couldn't have any of her sweets.

Squall made to grab the chocolate from her hand, only to miss when Rinoa moved it out of his way. She laughed as he tried to reach it above her head. Eventually she relented, having laughed so hard she now had a stitch in her side.

"Ew, you just bit it from where I bit it!" she exclaimed watching him eating the remainder of her chocolate. "Now you have my germs."

"Please explain."

"Well…" Rinoa said smiling. "First your hair will turn black and long, like mine," she said flicking it over her shoulder. "Then you'll have a great desire to shave your legs and wear a dress."

She watched his face turn from amused to serious in a matter of seconds. She followed his line of sight and saw a man and a woman battling the rain in an attempt to near them. Squall stepped out of the car to greet them, while Rinoa waited in the dry, her heart racing.

The man helped his wife into the car before hurrying round to the other side to climb in also. Squall started the engine as soon as everyone had clicked their seatbelts and they were travelling back to the hospital.

"Is she OK?" the woman asked. "I know you said she's stable, but what does that mean?"

Squall met her eye in the rear-view mirror for a second, before returning his attention to the road.

"It means she's neither deteriorating nor progressing. She is unconscious."

The woman gasped and a sob escaped her before she covered her mouth. Rinoa remembered what Quistis had said, that Squall could be very blunt with the facts. She felt that his words had probably offered the woman no comfort at all, unless in the very unlikely circumstance that she thought the same way Squall did.

"I'm sure the doctors are doing all that they can," Rinoa said turning around to look at their passengers. "She's not in any pain, not if she's sleeping."

The woman stopped looking so panicked and nodded, she took hold of her husband's hand and smiled reassuringly to him. Rinoa's words had clamed their fears for the moment.

Squall caught Rinoa's eye as she turned back around.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Rinoa smiled.

"It's Ok." She was glad to help.

* * *

As soon as they arrived in the hospital, Squall led the way to the correct floor and to the nurse's station. It was empty, but they didn't have to wait long, a woman in a blue uniform came forward to help them. Rinoa spotted Quistis hovering in the doorway of the side room further up the ward.

"There hasn't been any change," the nurse informed them. "Please come this way. The doctors will come and speak with you shortly," she explained as the girl's parents followed the nurse to see their daughter.

Rinoa and Squall remained behind, shortly joined by Quistis and Zell. When Rinoa saw Zell she stared in shock, he had a large number of very small cuts over the exposed parts of his body, fastened back together with tiny plasters. Rinoa recognised these, she had them as a child, butterfly stitches they had called them.

"Let's go down to the cafeteria, give them some space," Quistis suggested looking behind at the room she had just left. "We can't do anymore for a while."

* * *

Rinoa stood in the queue for coffee, having told the SeeDs to go and get a table and sit down. They had been working too hard today; the least she could do was bring them some coffee. She checked her purse; she would have to beg her dad for some more money later.

"Squall, it isn't your fault." She heard Quistis saying as she walked closer. "You couldn't have known this would happen."

"Yeah, and it could have happened to any one of us," Zell said unconsciously rubbing at his wounds.

Rinoa placed the tray down on the table and took a seat next to Zell; opposite Squall. She handed out the drinks, and then added sugar to her own in silence. She didn't have anything to say, not really knowing what had happened other than what she had overheard, and felt out of her depth. But the silence was beginning to drag.

"What kind of testing will you do on the monster?" she asked.

"How do you know about that?" Squall asked accusingly.

Rinoa blushed, she knew because she had listened to their conversation.

"Hey Squall, calm down," Zell warned, "She didn't mean to hear us. The monster is being taken to Balamb Garden, your father is over seeing it's transportation," he explained calmly.

Squall rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

"I think it would be best, after these, if we go home. I'll tell Clari's parents where they can contact us, and where the nearest hotel is," Quistis said, and no one argued.

Rinoa sipped her coffee without looking at anyone of them. Clari; the girl she had been worried about. She had never wanted to be right.


	20. My Father Is The President

**Author's Note**: Thank you reviewers!! I'm not sure what you'll all make of this chapter. It's tying up some lose ends, and giving you clues about what's to come. Oh, and some Squinoa for good measure. Thank you for reading!

**Chapter Twenty**

Rinoa checked her phone before heading to school; she had one text message. Quistis was going to drive her this morning, as Squall was already at the hospital. Rinoa had been woken during the night by the home phone ringing, but had fallen asleep again after it had been answered after only a few rings. Quistis had informed her over breakfast that there had been a development at the hospital, and that Squall had travelled back there, after barely having any sleep.

"It's half term next week," Rinoa said as she got into the car next to Quistis.

Quistis' mind was far away, and she was paying little to no attention to her passenger. She was trying to work out what best to do with her SeeD cadets. Zell was already disposed to call his group's exams to an end and send them back to Garden. They had not yet spoken to Squall, but she had an idea to phone Cid after Rinoa was at school.

"Sorry," Quistis said snapping out of her thoughts. "Half term?"

Rinoa nodded but said nothing more, it was clear that Quistis was not in the mood for talking, and Rinoa couldn't blame her.

"What time do you need picking up later?" Quistis asked as she stopped outside of the school gates. Rinoa snapped her phone shut, her text had been from Selphie, asking her whether she wanted to join her for a pizza later. Rinoa wasn't sure whether she wanted to go with Selphie or not.

"I might go out with Selphie later," Rinoa said. "Maybe straight after school."

"Phone me when you know what you're doing, wont you?" Quistis asked looking Rinoa in the eye and making sure that she gave her an answer. Rinoa nodded. She had no intention of doing otherwise; the SeeDs had enough on their plate without her adding to it.

* * *

Selphie was in a good mood during their English class, Rinoa was amazed that her friend had actually completed her homework. They handed in their latest essays and received their previous one's back. Rinoa smiled as she saw her improved grade, her hard work of late had paid off, and nothing could have prepared her for the satisfaction of seeing that red letter on her paper.

"What did you get?" Selphie asked leaning over. "B! That's the best mark you've ever had!"

Rinoa didn't mention that before she had met Selphie her marks had always been B's, and on occasion A's, it had only been through her late night's out and distractions that she had been slipping. Putting her essay into her bag, Rinoa decided she would show Squall the grade later; he might be pleased for her, if he wasn't too sick with worry.

Their school day rushed by, as Selphie's genuinely cheerful mood was infectious, and they left through the school gates feeling as if it had been a productive and amusing day. As they walked down the road into town, Rinoa quickly called Quistis and Selphie received a text, which she excitedly showed Rinoa.

"I love you," Rinoa read out loud in surprise. "From Irvine?"

Her shock must have sounded in her voice.

"I'll explain when we get there, it's a bit of a long story."

* * *

The pizza on the table had arrived quickly, and with a slice of pizza on her plate, Selphie felt it time to start her story, and Rinoa found herself eager to listen. It seemed such a long time since they had spoken to each other properly, and Rinoa realised just how much she had missed Selphie.

"I'm sorry I wasn't in touch sooner," Selphie said picking off the toppings and putting them into her mouth one tiny piece at a time. "But a lot has been happening."

"It's OK, a lot has been happening to me too," Rinoa admitted. And with that out of the way, the strange awkwardness to the start of the conversation was gone.

"The day after we all went out, me and Irvine had a talk. You know he gave me the necklace?" Selphie asked, but didn't wait for Rinoa to reply. "I asked him why he had, and he said it was because he was sorry."

"For what?" Rinoa asked after Selphie started shaking mixed spices over her pizza and getting distracted. Although Rinoa didn't voice her thoughts, there were a lot of things Irvine needed to apologise for in her opinion.

"For messing me about," Selphie said bluntly. Again Rinoa envied her friend for her way of talking about such personal things without blushing or feeling embarrassed. Suddenly a thought occurred to her that made her feel proud. Perhaps Selphie only did because she trusted her so much?

"He said he was sacred of being in a relationship because he'd never been in one before, and he was frightened of messing up," Selphie explained. "Of course, at first I thought this was just the usual crap that blokes come out with, the old, 'it's not you, it's me' line. But it turns out, he was telling the truth."

Rinoa frowned.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"Because his mum called me, and asked me around for a chat. I couldn't very well say no could I? I mean, it's not his mum's fault that we've been having problems. Only when I get there, his parents are going out, and Irvine has cooked me dinner," Selphie said waving her pizza around as she spoke, using it as a pointing aid to emphasize her words.

Rinoa, still waiting for the rest of the story sat in rapt attention.

"He told me he loved me, and that he was really sorry, and I believed him."

Rinoa let the information sink in before she said anything. Irvine's behaviour made sense now, how he would blow hot and cold, and as Selphie had said 'mess her around'. If Selphie believed him, then Rinoa would do to. There was more to the story she was sure than Selphie was telling her, so she was left to trust Selphie's decision. She hoped with all her heart that Irvine was being sincere.

"That's really great," Rinoa said smiling. "I think it deserves a toast," she suggested holding up her glass of lemonade. Selphie smiled, happier to have now shared her news, and joined in with the toast.

Over the remainder of the pizza Rinoa informed Selphie all about the girl in the hospital and how worried all the SeeDs were. However she left out any mention of her time alone with Squall, as that was too confusing to think about by herself, let alone speak aloud. The conversation soon turned to Seifer, and Rinoa soon realised that this topic no longer held the same appeal as it once had.

"He's having a party next week, on Saturday, it's his birthday, you'll come wont you?"

Seifer hadn't asked her, in fact she hadn't heard from him since they had been out. She wasn't sure if she was welcome, maybe he had been so unimpressed on their date that he no longer wanted anything more to do with her? She gave Selphie a 'maybe' as an answer, and was confused why she suddenly felt so disappointed that she hadn't been invited.

When the conversation had been exhausted, Selphie called Irvine to come and pick them up, and Rinoa called Quistis to let her know what was happening. But rather than speak to Quistis direct, she left a message on her answer phone and guessed that she must be up at the hospital.

Irvine and Selphie looked like a completely different couple when they sat in the car, snatching glances at each other, and smiling. Rinoa felt her worries disappear; maybe Irvine was the right one after all. She waved them on their way before heading towards her front door, and digging out her house keys from her bag.

Setting her bag in the hallway, Rinoa ventured to the kitchen where she guessed the housekeeper would be, to inform her that she didn't need dinner. However, on her way she spotted someone sat in the living room. On closer inspection she saw it was Squall, as she could tell from the boots he was wearing.

The TV was on the news channel, but as Rinoa walked round his armchair she realised that he was asleep. She stood frozen for a second, if she moved, she might make a noise and wake him. She stared at him as she stood, his head was tilted to the side against the wing of the chair, and in one hand was the TV remote, and in the other, a bottle of water.

The top was missing from the bottle, and it was almost spilling. Rinoa reached for the bottle, almost climbing over him to retrieve it, one knee on the side of the chair. As she moved closer, she lost her balance, causing her knee to slip off the chair and for her to clutch at his arm to save herself.

Squall jumped, woken abruptly and spilling the water all over himself.

"What?" he shouted before realising where he was, and then discovering all the water. He looked at Rinoa, who was frozen in surprise. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I thought the water would spill, I was trying to take the bottle away," she explained quickly, standing up and moving backwards. Squall stood also and peeled his soaked shirt away from his chest.

"Thanks. Don't bother next time," he said before walking away without another word. Rinoa bit her lip, that hadn't gone as well as she had planned.

* * *

Half and hour later she was stood outside of his room, staring at the closed door. In her hand she had a bowl of fruit salad, which she had created with help from the housekeeper. She knocked on his door and waited. Eventually it opened, but not far enough for Rinoa to take it as an invite to step inside. She looked up at Squall guiltily. He had changed his shirt for a dark blue one.

"I brought you…" she said, but his expression cut her off. He looked totally bemused as to why she should be stood there, with a bowl of chopped up fruit in her hands. "Oh for goodness sake," Rinoa snapped. "Just let me in."

Squall opened the door further but didn't step out of the way, forcing Rinoa to squeeze past. He smiled, noticing how hard she tried not to touch him, but grazing against his arm all the same. She sat herself on his bed and put the bowl down on the desk with a thud.

"What?" Squall asked aware that she was staring at him.

"Don't _what_ me!" she said folding her arms.

"This is my room, I'll do as I please," Squall said, Rinoa was easy to torment, perhaps it wasn't fair, but he couldn't help himself. Her brow would furrow when she was desperately thinking of things to say, and her hands would always reach for her necklace or twist in her hair.

"It's _my_ house," Rinoa said in a childlike manner, she took the bowl of fruit that had been meant for Squall, and started eating. "OK, well my dad's house. But he's a general, and out ranks your dad…whoever he is. So you do as I say."

Squall smiled, but hid it away, it would be more amusing if she thought he was being serious, and perhaps he might make her blush.

"I think not," he said, leaning against the wall in a nonchalant manner.

"Oh yeah?" Rinoa challenged.

"My father is the president of Esthar."

Rinoa snorted in a very unladylike fashion, and then smiled. She stopped smiling when she realised that he wasn't joking. She gaped at him instead.

"No…" she said turning her head slowly to the side as she thought. "You're lying."

Squall shrugged.

"So," he said, "You do as _I_ say."

"What?"

"Don't _what_ me!" he said mimicking Rinoa's words of before. She sighed and lay back defeated, staring at the ceiling.

Rinoa being in his room didn't feel strange, and she must have shared the feeling, as she looked completely at ease in the situation. So at ease that she was woken by Squall informing her that dinner was ready. Blushing, and wondering when she had fallen asleep, she followed him into the dining room, not hungry but not yet ready to miss a second of his company.

She smiled as he passed her the bowl filled with potatoes, and Rinoa guessed that she had been lucky that he hadn't felt the need to get his own back, by pouring the fruit salad over her as she slept.


	21. Your Reports Please

**Author's Note**: Bit of a longer chapter this one, to make up for the delay in updating. Been working nights up at the hospital, it's a killer, so I think I should be forgiven, or at least pitied… Hope you like!

**Chapter Twenty One**

_Party 2nite, my house. Seifer._

Rinoa stared at her text; she could have sworn that Selphie had said next week. To double check, she phoned Selphie who confirmed that it was in fact, tonight. Saturday morning was almost over now; if she wanted to shop for a new outfit she would have to be quick.

The SeeD's had all gone out, and Selphie was over Irvine's house with no intentions of leaving any time soon. Rinoa wondered whether to call Squall, he was at the hospital, but he had said to call if she needed him. Although she suspected his reasons for her to call were more along the lines of 'Squall I have been abducted by aliens' or 'the house burnt down', not so much, 'I want to go shopping.'

She dialled his number, and after a few short rings he answered.

"Commander Leonhart," he said, not sounding as if he had looked at who was calling. Rinoa paused; the formality of his greeting surprised her, she said nothing down the line, and there was a moment of silence.

"Squall?" she asked tentatively.

She could hear him telling the other people around him that he would be back in one moment, and then she heard movement and the door shut.

"Yes?" he asked.

Rinoa blushed, she felt stupid now for phoning him, as she could have got a taxi or something, or even the bus. Maybe she could pretend she'd called just for a chat, but even then, she would have disturbed him for no reason.

"Are you coming back soon?" she asked, keeping her tone vague.

She could imagine Squall rubbing at the bridge of his nose, as he always did when exasperated.

"What do you want?"

She was right, he did sound annoyed, but not angry. Hospitals usually made people on edge, and Squall had plenty to be worried about. So Rinoa chose to forgive him.

"Nothing," she said biting her fingernail. "Just…seeing how you are."

There was a long pause, where Rinoa could think of nothing to say, and Squall wondered whether he could believe that or not. No one ever phoned him to see how his day was, the only calls he ever got were business related. Would Rinoa really call him without wanting something?

"I'm fine…" Squall said, feeling a little intruded upon. Why did she care anyway?

"Oh… good," Rinoa said embarrassed, he must have thought her weird now as well as stupid. He'd only been gone a couple of hours, she sounded like she had no life when he wasn't around. Maybe Seifer's party was what she needed. After all, however much she might the SeeDs, they were not her real friends, and they would be gone in a week.

"Rinoa, we need to talk," Squall said in a quieter voice, as if he was afraid someone would overhear. Rinoa's face suddenly drained of all colour, and she was glad that they were speaking on the phone and not face-to-face.

People only every said that when they had something bad to say, or in movies and TV when someone wanted to break-up with the other. She couldn't speak for a moment, so Squall carried on.

"I'm meeting Quistis and Zell in half an hour, we'll talk then."

"Um, are you going to pick me up?" Rinoa managed to squeak out.

"I'll be there in ten."

* * *

Those ten minutes were the longest ten minutes of Rinoa's life, in fact it was longer, as Squall was late arriving at her house. Rinoa had been ready to go ever since she had ended the conversation, and had been sitting on the bottom of the stairs with her coat on and her bag in her hands. Her fingers had gone white from where she was holding the bag so tightly, and when Squall finally walked through the front door he noticed how deathly pale she was.

He hadn't expected her to be ready and waiting, but the look on her face told him that she had been waiting anxiously. Maybe he should have told her on the phone, but nothing had been decided yet.

"What's wrong?" she attacked him with. "What's happened? Is it my fault?"

"No," he said surprised. How could she think anything was her fault? She hadn't done anything. Her anxious state surprised him, and he wasn't prepared. "We might be leaving sooner than planned."

Rinoa couldn't hide the look of disappointment that spread across her face. No, they couldn't leave. She wasn't ready for them to go yet. She had only just got used to them being around, and she was sure that they had gotten used to her too. Especially Squall, he included her now, he no longer treated her like an employer, but as one of them…or so she had thought. But if that were true, then why would they leave before they had to?

"But… you are supposed to stay another week!" she said, her voice high pitched in her distress. She heard her own voice in her ears and felt ashamed at her hasty words. It was just a job to them, and she had to remember that.

"The situation with Clari has caused concerns. Zell is adamant that the exams should be ended. Quistis is undecided. We will discuss the option's today… you are welcome to join us…"

Rinoa folded her arms as she looked away. What she really wanted to do was to stamp her feet, run up the stairs and cry. But she didn't dare act on it. She didn't trust that Squall would come after her; it was more likely that he'd just walk out and carry on with his day.

"Would you have asked me to come along, if I hadn't of called you?" she asked finding a steady voice from somewhere deep inside. She didn't know why this had shaken her so much, she knew that they had to leave… she just hadn't been prepared.

"No," he replied honestly. "I've been meaning to tell you for days."

Rinoa frowned.

"Well, why didn't you?" Rinoa asked, she was more than a little annoyed that she had been carry on with her life, when the SeeDs had been hiding a secret from her. What else did they know that she didn't?

Squall seemed loathed to answer, as he turned towards the door and stepped outside.

"We should go," he said leading the way down the path.

The military base let Squall in without any questions. Rinoa gazed out of the window, trying to be angry, but unable to be interested in where she was. She had never been past the gates before; she was familiar only with the civilian area having waited there on many occasions for her father. Squall led her to one of the compounds, before opening the door for her to go inside. She stepped in not expecting to be stared at by a room full of people.

"Here, sit down," Squall said offering her the only available seat left in the room. He remained standing until someone had the presence of mind to fetch him a chair.

Rinoa tried to look around without appear to be doing so, and caught Quistis' eye. She looked surprised to see Rinoa there, but smiled after a while. Zell was too preoccupied with doodling on his notepaper to notice her. At last, what Rinoa supposed was a meeting, began.

"I shall begin with stating what we have discovered from our preliminary investigations on the monster, that we are, for the present, referring to as number 226."

Rinoa looked up shocked to see that her father had been the one to speak. She dipped her head down and blushed. What would he say later after all these other people had gone? Would he be angry that she came here? Not that it was her fault; she didn't know where she would be going. It was Squall's fault she was here.

"Its stats show that it was running at a higher level to most monsters found in these parts, suggesting that it is not native. The thickness of its scales has led us to believe that it has come from a much colder clime. As such we are of an opinion that it has been illegally smuggled into this country, possibly from the Trabia continent."

Rinoa had never seen her father at work, at least, not away from his office at home. She was struck by the way he commanded everyone's attention, including Squall, who listened to him with unwavering concentration. Unlike Zell, who couldn't help but continue his doodle.

"226 has already begun transfer to Garden?" Squall said, seeking confirmation. Once General Caraway answered affirmative, Squall began adding to his notes. "You will fax all your information to Cid Kramer."

"Certainly, the information was sent this morning."

Rinoa listened with awe at the assertive manner in which Squall spoke to her father. She fully believed that there was no way that Squall would let himself be walked over, not like her, who sat in her chair trying to be invisible.

"I believe that you have a theory on what has caused our SeeD cadet, number 0765, her present state of illness," Quistis prompted, her pen paused over her notes. Her manner that was usually strictly formal and professional was doubly so now, and Rinoa knew that she had a long way to go to gain such a confidence that these SeeD had.

"Yes. Purely a theory you understand," General Caraway answered, "But because of the nature of the creature's magic, casting a haste upon the girl may increase the chances of further magic being successful."

Quistis nodded and wrote this down.

"The hospital staff have made some progress since our last meeting," Squall said, "Cadet number 0765's BP has improved significantly, and her blood sugar levels are at a much more satisfactory level. Although she passes most of her day in a deep sleep, there have been periods of time in which she is awake, however, not yet alert." Squall stopped reading from his notes and looked up for questions.

There were none, and everyone seemed satisfied. There then followed the usual summing up of the information shared, a brief plan of action, and date arranged for the next meeting.

As everyone departed, the SeeDs and Rinoa remained. Rinoa had half expected her father to want a word with her, but as he passed he simply put a hand on her shoulder in an affectionate manner, the left the room. Squall waited for everyone to leave before he spoke.

"Your reports please."


	22. Seifer's Party Part One

**Chapter Twenty Two**

**(Part One)**

Rinoa had listened with an ever-growing feeling of sadness. She supposed that she was grateful, that they were including her so much in their decisions, but it was hard to keep her feelings to herself. Zell had made his report first, the girl Clari had been in his SeeD cadet group, and out of respect he wanted to call an end to his cadet's examination. His cadets were in agreement with this, they had completed their mission before the girl had been injured and had been using their time to take advantage of battling the higher-level monsters of the area. A choice they had later regretted.

In light of the present situation, Quistis wanted to take her cadets out of the field, and make the way clear for more experienced SeeDs who would sweep the area for similar monsters as the one that had attacked Clari. She felt it to be unsafe to place inexperienced SeeDs in what they knew to be a potentially dangerous situation. Plus with the Galbadian army now involved, it would be best to have someone used to politics and diplomacy in charge. 

Rinoa listened to their reports and could hear the logic in each. She couldn't find anything to argue against but her own selfish reasons. She had only just begun to get used to them being here in her life. She knew they were leaving, but not for their visit to be cut short, and she had not been prepared to say goodbye just yet.

Squall had nodded, his brow furrowed as he thought. He tapped his pen against his pad of paper, filled with close written notes, as he weighed up his options. Rinoa wondered what he was thinking about, and if she was featuring anywhere in his decision. She doubted it, but it was a comforting thought to think that he might regret leaving her behind.

"Thank you, Quistis, Zell…" he said after a long pause. 

Rinoa had a sense that everyone was holding their breath for the answer. 

"We shall leave early. Contact your cadets and inform them to take the next available train home, you may return with them, or follow tomorrow. I will be staying a further day to speak with cadet number 0765's parents."

Quistis and Zell's chairs scraped against the floor as they stood and saluted Squall. Rinoa tried not to look at either of them, and especially not Squall. She didn't want any of them to see that she was upset, she'd keep her face blank until she was alone and whatever confused emotion she was burying could escape. She could feel Squall's eyes on her face, but she wouldn't look at him, afraid of what she might give away. She left the room with her eyes cast down. 

"Rinoa, your father is going to take you home," Squall said as they got to the carpark, and looking up, Rinoa saw that her father's car was indeed there waiting for her.

She nodded, and headed towards it without saying anything. She felt that her father was looking at her closer than usual, as if trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rinoa tried not to look at him either, but it wasn't easy.

"Was there somewhere you wanted to go first?" he asked.

He knows, Rinoa thought. He knows they're leaving, and that I'm upset about it, why else would he put himself out so much? She shrugged. She had wanted a lift into town earlier, but that desire had long since passed. She had only really acted upon it because she had wanted to speak to Squall, and as an excuse to call him. 

"No, not really," she said glumly, clicking her seat belt into place. 

Her father didn't press the matter and Rinoa didn't feel the need to say anything further. They followed the SeeD's car along the road until they reached town, and they took another turning. Rinoa couldn't help the sigh that escaped her as they drove in the opposite direction. Taking out her phone, she opened her messages.

_Hey Seifer, Party sounds great, see you there! Rinoa xx_

After it was sent, Rinoa didn't have to wait long for a reply, a moment later her phone beeped.

_Cant wait 2 see you babe! Seifer_

Rinoa smiled. At least he hadn't forgotten about her, even if things had gone a little quite after their date. But she had been so busy she hadn't really given him a moment's thought. Perhaps she should have text him sooner; he had paid for her dinner after all. If the SeeDs were determined to leave, then she would have to forget them. Squall might have been right about her friends, maybe they weren't the best people she could surround herself with, content to stay as they were and not strive for more. But at least they hadn't abandoned her, and at the end of the day, wasn't that better?

Rinoa lay in her bathtub listening to the shower being run on the opposite side of the wall. She could hear things in Quistis' room being moved around, and she guessed that she was packing her suitcase. It was probably Zell running the shower. Would they say goodbye to her before they left? Or would they think it best to leave that to Squall? He was staying another day after all. Rinoa didn't think she could stand having to say goodbye to Squall, for the simple fact that she didn't want him to leave. 

She had been trying to ignore it. But it kept coming down to the same thing. She was a better person when she was around him. She worked hard at school; she behaved, as she should. She wanted him to like her, and to think well of her. Anything more than that she didn't dare let herself hope for, it was absurd to think that the Commander of Balamb Garden would be interested in her. He'd want someone clever, like Quistis, and brave, and grown-up, not someone like her, who wanted to be young and foolish but hoping to be better. 

After drying her hair, Rinoa dressed in her nightdress and her dressing gown before wandering downstairs to dinner. Quistis and Zell were laughing at something with her father, and Rinoa was glad that the atmosphere didn't change when she walked into the room. She had the sense that everyone was avoiding the subject of the SeeDs leaving, and Rinoa couldn't be more grateful. 

As they ate, Rinoa wondered when the best time was to mention the party she was going to, and whether someone would take her there. But not finding the courage to speak, she returned to her room to find a message on her phone from Irvine, offering to pick her up on the way. She bit her lip, the text had taken care of one of her problems, but she still had to say something to Zell and Quistis. Maybe she could duck out of that as well, if they saw she was dressed for a party that would answer the question of where she was going.

After dressing, she wandered downstairs to find Quistis and Zell dithering in the hallway, their suitcases at their feet and their military jackets slung over their arms. As their eyes met, Quistis blushed red, ashamed that Rinoa should think that they had been planning on leaving without saying goodbye. But Rinoa understood, they had been trying to avoid a scene like this.

"It was nice to meet you Rinoa," Quistis said holding out her hand. Rinoa ignored it and stepped forward to give her a hug, she might be upset they were leaving, but it wasn't their fault. 

"I'm going to miss you," Rinoa confessed as she let Quistis go. She could tell Quistis was uncomfortable in the situation, probably trying desperately to detach herself from the moment, reminding herself that it was just another mission that had ended.

Zell sheepishly handed over a box, which had been wrapped without much skill. It didn't take long for Rinoa to remove the paper and open the lid, and to find inside a new controller for her games machine, and a new game. She looked up at him surprised.

"You didn't have to," she said not sure whether to accept his present or not. She hadn't been expecting it. "I didn't get you anything…" she added embarrassed. Zell shrugged.

"Hey just replacing the one I broke," Zell said looking anywhere but her face, his own blushed red. She smiled and decided to accept it gracefully. 

"Squall will be back later…" Quistis said. "But it looks like you're going out, so maybe you wont see him until tomorrow."

Rinoa nodded. She'd see him just before he left her too. She began having second thoughts… she could have one more night with Squall if she didn't go out. But it was too late, Irvine was outside, and Selphie was ringing the doorbell and peering through the letterbox.

"Come on Rin, hurry up!" she squealed before the letterbox flapped shut on her. 

Rinoa smiled at Quistis and Zell before slinging her bag over her shoulder and waving them goodbye as she opened the door and joined Selphie in hurrying down the path and into Irvine's car. 

* * *

Seifer's party was more in the street than in his house, everyone seemed to have begun partying long before it was due to start. Seifer was sitting in a deckchair on his front lawn, with a feather-boa across his lap and a lipstick kisses all over his shirt. He raised his beer to them as he saw them, and struggled out of his chair. Rinoa jumped as someone pushed past her and leapt straight into the kid's paddling pool on the grass.

"Hey, you made it!" he shouted as he staggered over to them. "Get you a beer?"

Selphie slapped him on the arm.

"You started without us!" she complained.

"Started at lunchtime," Seifer said as if it was ordinary occurrence. "Went out for a few bevies with this lot, then thought, might as well just carry on!"

Selphie laughed and shook her head, but Rinoa couldn't find anything amusing about the scene before her, a group of young men jumping into paddling pools and falling over.

"Happy birthday mate," Irvine said pulling Seifer into a hug, which was drunkenly returned by Seifer using him as prop to hold himself up. 

"Go in and get some drinks, there's cans in the kitchen," Sefer said before he was beckoned away by two girls who wanted to wrap the feather-boa around him again and give him more play kisses. Rinoa followed Selphie and Irvine inside to get a drink, and stood with Selphie as Irvine went to greet his other friends.

"What's going on with you and Seifer?" Selphie asked opening her larger can and trying to drink the foam that escaped over the top. "I thought you were going out now." 

Rinoa shrugged and copied Selphie, she'd enjoy the night more if she was drunk. Irvine had found the CD player, and had restarted the music, the partygoers too drunk to realise that it had stopped. The music gave them all a new enthusiasm as everyone began dancing.

"Selph, I don't think it's Seifer I want to be with," Rinoa said hoping Selphie could hear her over the music. She didn't want to shout it, speaking it was scary enough. 

Selphie was intrigued and tugged Rinoa into the corner of the kitchen where they were less likely to be interrupted. Selphie fixed her with a look, which told Rinoa that now she had started, she had to finish by telling her all. 

"I think I'm in love with Squall…"

Selphie's confusion was evident. 

"Squall?" she asked, clearly not yet knowing who Rinoa meant. "Squall!" she exclaimed too loudly as she remembered. "SeeD Squall?"

"Shhh," Rinoa hissed, fearing someone would overhear. "Don't shout."

"Yeah…but like, what? When? Why didn't you tell me?" Selphie demanded.

"I didn't know, I still don't know. It's just Squall's leaving tomorrow, and I really really don't want him to go," Rinoa explained. 

"I'm sorry Rin."

"Why?" Rinoa asked surprised.

"Because even if you tell him, he's still going to have to leave. It's not like he has a choice. Do you think he feels the same?" Selphie asked.

Rinoa shrugged and took another sip of her drink. How could she know? She'd only just figured out her own feelings. 

"What should I do?" Rinoa asked pleadingly.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you have more experience with this … stuff," Rinoa said shyly, wondering if Selphie might laugh at her for being stupid, but Selphie didn't laugh.

"Rinoa, just because I've had more boyfriends than you, doesn't mean I have some sort of secret. It just means that I've been looking longer and found a load of idiots, seriously you're not missing out on much. I'm only with Irvine because we sort of accidentally worked it out. Really, you don't want my advice."

Rinoa might envy Selphie for her experience, but what Rinoa didn't know was the price that had been paid for it. All the tears Selphie had cried over every text message that had ended every relationship she'd ever had, and another crushing moment when she realised that she had been used once more, and chosen the wrong guy. It was why she hadn't been too happy with Seifer's attentions with Rinoa, she knew his reputation, but this time it had seemed to be different. He had known that Rinoa was not the kind of girl to fall into bed after one date, and yet he had still been interested. But if Rinoa was looking elsewhere, Selphie couldn't be happier, but this was just as bad.

"Rinoa, you either tell him, or you spend the rest of your life wondering what if. If you can live without knowing, that's what I recommend you do, because he will leave, and either way, you'll get hurt."

Rinoa nodded. Selphie was right, if she told Squall how she felt, it wouldn't change anything. He'd still have to leave tomorrow regardless of whether or not he felt the same. She chugged back the rest of her drink and found another, she needed to drink the night away, and forget. 


	23. Seifer's Party The Mistake

**A/N: **Thank you everyone who read the last chapter. This is the turning point for Rinoa, I've been torn as to how far to take this chapter for some time now, but I decided I'd probably regret it if I bottled out. So…

**Warnings**: This chapter contains adult situations. 

**Chapter Twenty Three**

Rinoa took her latest drink out into the garden, she had spent most of the night talking to Selphie, but Irvine had soon gotten bored of hanging out with his friends, and had wanted Selphie's attention all to himself once again. Rinoa had wandered from room to room looking for someone she knew, but she found no one, and the people that she did find she had no desire to get to know. 

The back garden was filled with people, sitting together in small groups, the energy slipping away as everyone became tired and filled with alcohol. Rinoa stepped outside with a shaky walk, things were getting hazy now, and she had the feeling that if she sat down now, she wouldn't get back up again. She scanned the garden for Seifer, and found him at the bottom of the garden surrounded by a haze of cigarette smoke. 

"Hey!" he called as he spotted Rinoa walking towards him. Rinoa waved, but said nothing; she was concentrating on her steps and couldn't look up from the ground. "Where've you been?"

"Inside," Rinoa said looking back the house. "With Selphie."

Seifer put his arm around her and pulled her close to his chest; to Rinoa's surprised he kissed the top of her head, and then began introducing her to all of his friends. Rinoa found that by leaning on Seifer she was in danger of not being able to stand on her own. She closed her eyes and found that the world was spinning, and although the sensation wasn't unpleasant, it wasn't something she liked. She had no idea how long she stood clinging onto Seifer, but soon his friends decided to call it a night, and they were left alone. 

"Hungry?" he asked still holding onto her tightly. Rinoa nodded against his chest, and then attempted to stand by herself, but failing, she clung to him once more. "Come on babe," he said before picking her up and carrying her over the grass and back into the house.

Rinoa found herself in the kitchen, and couldn't remember how she had arrived there. Had she really walked all the way from the garden to here? She looked around for some sign of Selphie, but it seemed like everyone had abandoned the party now, and gone home, or had fallen asleep somewhere uncomfortable. 

Resting her head on the kitchen table, Rinoa watched Seifer put a pizza into the oven and fill some glasses with water. He pushed a glass towards her and sat down opposite. She wondered how he managed to keep going, having been drinking all day, but then he was used to it, and she was not. She gulped the water down and then rested her head once more, fighting not to close her eyes and all asleep. 

Seifer left her alone until the pizza was cooked, then placed it in front of her before helping himself. The smell of food woke Rinoa's senses and she sat up to eat. As soon as the pizza filled her stomach she began to feel better, as if it was doing something to soak up all the alcohol in her system. She smiled at Seifer and then raised her glass of water in a toast to his birthday.

"Have you seen Selphie?" she asked.

Seifer shrugged as he continued to eat. 

"Probably gone home with Irvine."

Rinoa knew what that meant, that Selphie and Irvine had forgotten about taking her home in their rush to enjoy their renewed relationship. Rinoa sighed, she'd have to find another way of getting home, unless they decided to come back to get her, once they had finished doing whatever it was they were doing.

Rinoa nodded as she finished her pizza and took her plate to the sink. Walking across the kitchen had reminded her just how much she had drank, as sitting still had made her forget, and for a short moment while she ate the room had stopped spinning. She leant on the counter and rubbed her temple, why had she drunk more than she could handle? Seifer stood besides her, watching her, and when she turned to look at him she was surprised to find that he was leaning in to kiss her. 

Unable to make her brain function, as to whether or not she should kiss him back, instinct took over and she forgot all her inhibitions. He led her down the hallway, and she followed him with difficulty up the stairs and onto the landing. Once there she had moment when she wondered what she was doing, where she was going, and what she was going to do. Maybe in a moment she would wake up, but for now, all she could do was follow where Seifer led her.

In his room she sat in his bed and allowed him to kiss her again, leaning back, she climbed further back on the bed and he climbed over her. Was she really going to do this? It seemed surreal. She knew now that she felt nothing for Seifer, she didn't love him, and if she was honest she didn't want him to be her boyfriend. He was the kind of guy that she'd never be able to trust, forever wondering where he was, and whom he was with. But right now, he was an opportunity. A chance to know what it was all about, to know what Selphie knew, a chance to be like everyone else.

Seifer's hand found it's way under her top and Rinoa found herself leaning forwards to allow him to undo her bra. Again she wondered what she was doing, but it was easier to keep going than to stop. 

Before she knew it she had lost her clothes, and Seifer was attempting to press into her. Rinoa's face screwed up as she felt a stinging pain. 

She couldn't bring herself to look at him, she didn't know whether he knew she wasn't enjoying herself or not. She couldn't believe that the pain wasn't stopping, was it supposed to be this bad? Maybe if she had confessed as much to Selphie, she would have clued her in. Of course she knew the first time wasn't supposed to be wonderful, but no one had ever mentioned side-splitting pain.

"You OK?" Seifer asked in a muffled sounding voice. 

Rinoa nodded, even though she felt differently. But if she stopped now, what would have been the point? He'd broken through her now, and was beginning to move. She felt herself relaxing somewhat, although the pain never left her, just dulled slightly. She began to wish that it would be over soon, she'd had enough of this experience now, and not even the alcohol in her blood could make it enjoyable. 

Sooner than she expected, it was over, and Seifer had climbed off her. Rinoa lay in silence, wondering what was going to happen now. Her first thought, was how she was going to find her clothes with the lights off, as she had no desire to illuminate the scene. It seemed unlikely that Sefer was going to move now.

"Where did my clothes go?" she asked in a small voice, before sitting up and putting her hand on something unfamiliar. 

She lifted it up to the light filtering through the curtain and saw that it was the empty condom packet. She let it drop to the floor. At least Seifer had had the presence of mind to use one, as it hadn't occurred to her. Stupid! How could she forget something as important?

"Somewhere on the floor babe," Seifer answered in a sleepy voice. "You want the light on?"

"No, I'm OK," Rinoa said, climbing off the bed and feeling around on the floor for her things. She found them pretty easily and dressed as quickly as she could. When she turned around she found that Seifer had covered himself up with the duvet. "Can you drive me home?"

"Take yourself home," Seifer mumbled.

Rinoa stood confused; she had no idea what she was going to do if Seifer wouldn't take her home. She found his lack of interest in her disappointing, and she knew her earlier assumption had been right. He wasn't the kind of guy she needed in her life. She walked to the door and opened it, she heard Seifer sit up and looked back around.

"Hey, um… you're really cool, but I'm not looking for a girlfriend…OK?"

Rinoa stood frozen, one hand on the door handle. She didn't love him, but it still hurt her deeply. She knew she had been used, even if she had known this would happen. She couldn't blame him, he hadn't ever promised her anything… but she had thought, perhaps stupidly, that maybe she had meant something to him. Selphie's warnings had always been present, and maybe it was because of them that she had never allowed herself to feel too much for him. But it didn't lessen the pain of having given him everything, and then being thrown away.

She left the room with tears in her eyes. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs the tears were falling fast. What had she done? Knowing what sex was about was nowhere near a fair exchange for how she felt now. She found her bag in the kitchen, and with shaking hands she dialled the only person she could trust.

* * *

Squall awoke to the sound of his phone ringing, his first thought was that something had happened at the hospital, but when he saw Rinoa's name on the front screen, his heart began to pound. What had happened?

"Hello? Rinoa?" 

Rinoa couldn't bring herself to speak; her tears were falling so fast that all she could do was gasp for breath in-between her cries. 

"Rinoa, where are you? What's happened?" he asked panicking, climbing out of bed and dressing with urgency.

"At Seifer's house….will….will you come get me?"

Squall was already out of his room and hurrying down the stairs.

"Stay where you are, I'll be there soon," he told her as he ran down the path, and round to the side of the house to his car. He could hear Rinoa talking as he threw the phone onto the passenger seat and he started the engine, and then he could hear her crying again as he drove down the road. Then the phone call ended.

Rinoa stood outside Seifer's house, her coat pulled tightly around her and her phone clutched firmly in her hand. She heard Squall's car before she saw it, and felt the weight of the world lift from her shoulders when he parked before her. 

Squall looked up at Rinoa, standing in the cold dark night, her bare legs and high heels older than her years. Her face was stained with tears, and her expression so innocent as she looked at him. She wasted no time in hurrying towards the car and climbing in. 

"Are you OK?" he asked.

"No. Seifer's a jerk!" she screamed, throwing her phone onto the floor by her feet. 

"What happened?" Squall asked.

The way she looked at him told him everything. He pulled the car to the side of the road and stopped. Rinoa was concerned for a moment that he might start shouting at her.

"Has he hurt you?" he asked seriously. Rinoa knew what he meant, he meant had he forced her. She knew also that if she said yes, Squall would have turned the car back around gone looking for Seifer. His caring question touched her.

"No, not in that way," she said looking away from him. "I'm fine."

"You are not fine," Squall contradicted, but pulled back out onto the road and began again in the direction of home.

* * *

They stood in the hallway, neither moving.

"Thank you for coming to get me," Rinoa said barely above a whisper. Her tears were stopping now, and the anger and disappointment ebbing away. What was done was done, and while it had been a mistake, it wasn't the end of the world. Squall was still speaking to her, and she still had a few hours with him until he left.

"Of course."

Rinoa half smiled.

"I think I want to watch TV for a bit… want to watch with?" she asked walking away.

Squall didn't follow her immediately; instead he made a detour to the kitchen, before returning with a cup of coffee and a hot water bottle. He handed both to Rinoa who received them with surprise.

"You probably ache," he said sitting beside her on the sofa. 

Rinoa looked at him puzzled. Did he have a girlfriend that he had never mentioned, or more optimistically an ex-girlfriend? Was this attention the result of first hand experience? He saw the confused look on Rinoa's face before she placed the hot water bottle on her stomach.

"I have a sister," he said in way of an explanation. "She tells me more than I care to know."

Rinoa was taken aback. He had never said anything about a sister before.

"What's her name?" she asked interested in anything connected to him.

"Ellone. She lives in Esthar, with our father."

The president, Rinoa added in her own mind. 

They watched late night or early morning TV in silence, Rinoa hugging her hot water bottle gratefully. Squall's sister wasn't kidding about the ache. 

"You have no classes next week?" Squall asked suddenly. Rinoa shook her head. "Do you want to see Balamb Garden?" 


	24. Journey

**A/N:** Thank you gang for all the reviews, you lot are awesome to be still reading this, it's staring to become quite the epic! Twenty-four chapters and counting, it's the longest fic I've ever written! I hope no one was shocked and appalled by the last chapter, but I personally don't think that you can appreciate how nice a guy is to you, unless you've met a few horrible ones along the way.

**Chapter Twenty Four**

Rinoa had watched TV until her eyes had closed and she had fallen asleep on the sofa. When she awoke it was to the sound of her father in the kitchen, eating his toast before heading out to work. She heard him talking, but hadn't been awake enough to understand. He had met her in the hallway, and said nothing about the clothes she was dressed in, and the fact that she had obviously not been to bed.

"Call me later tonight, won't you," he said pulling on his coat. "I've transferred some money into your account."

Rinoa stared at him. What on earth had Squall said to him, to allow her to escape what should have been a telling off? Squall appeared from the kitchen, a glass of orange juice in his hand, and nodded to Rinoa's father in way of a goodbye.

Without mentioning anything much, her father had given his consent to her leaving the country with Squall. Surely he would have some words for her other than to ask her to call when she arrived in safety? She decided her father must have been taking some personality altering drugs this morning. Giving her all this freedom wasn't like him, at least not since she had moved here. Maybe she had changed more than she realised, if he trusted her again? Or, maybe she owed everything to Squall, and some amazing powers of persuasion.

"Can you travel today?" Squall asked as her father closed the door and left for work. "You're not too tired?"

Rinoa shook her head. She was tired, but the excitement of where she was going would not let that be a reason for delay. Anyway, didn't Squall need to get back to Balamb as soon as possible?

"Well, I'll need to pack and change, but after that I'm good to go," Rinoa said smiling.

Squall nodded slowly before finishing his drink, he then turned to walk back into the kitchen, and Rinoa found herself following, waiting for him to say something. She watched him rinse the glass out under the tap and then load it into the dishwasher.

"We'll go after lunch," Squall said turning to face her.

Rinoa smiled to herself, she liked the way Squall said things as if they were final and set in stone. She wondered what his reaction would be if she said she wanted to travel later in the day. She bit the inside of her lip as she chewed over an idea she had had, ever since Squall had invited her. Would it be rude to ask that Selphie come with her?

Not only did she feel that she owed Selphie a share of this experience, but she didn't want to arrive in a new place on her own, knowing few people. With Selphie with her she would be braver, there seemed to be nothing that scared Selphie.

"Um, Squall…" she said in a childish voice, the kind she used on her father when she wanted something. "Would it be OK if Selphie came with us?"

She lifted her eyes to look at him, only to find that he wasn't looking her way, and she couldn't read his face. If anything, he looked disappointed. She waited for him to speak, and as the silence dragged she wished she had just kept her mouth shut. Finally he looked at her, all traces of the disappointment she thought she had seen, gone.

"I'll buy three tickets," he said, amused by how happy these few words had made her.

Rinoa clapped her hands and then ran out of the kitchen, shouting over her shoulder as she went, telling him how she was going to go phone Selphie, shower and pack. Squall stood in the kitchen wondering what he was doing. There was no doubt Zell and Quistis were going to be surprised by his behaviour. He had never had a girlfriend before, at least no one that had stuck around, and no one that he had ever introduced as having that title.

But he found himself not caring what they thought, or what people said. With Rinoa it was different. The others, they had been sweet polite girls, who went to dinner with him, or walked on the beach, but he had never felt the need to involve them in his life. With Rinoa… he wanted her to see his world, become some part of it, approve of it, and be proud of him for the position he held within it.

The timing was off; if he were staying longer he would have waited. She had been hurt, and it would probably be a long time before she allowed herself to be vulnerable with her heart and feelings again. But time was running out for him. Would she understand? To her, he was probably still acting under the terms of his contract. She didn't know him, not yet. She didn't know that he had never actively sought a girl's company before hers, everything usually ended up happening by accident, but this time, it would be different… and he was nervous.

* * *

Rinoa spoke to Selphie whilst she lay in the bath, knowing that if she dropped the phone in the water she'd regret trying to save time by multitasking. The conversation had begun with Selphie apologising for leaving her behind, and then telling her far more than she wanted to know about what she had been doing with Irvine. Then Rinoa told her about what had happened with her and Seifer, and was glad Selphie couldn't see her, as she was blushing so hard that she was sure that her extremities were going into peripheral shutdown, with all that blood rushing to her face.

It was the most embarrassing moment of her life, reliving it all to Selphie and to herself. But the more she talked, and the more Selphie cursed Seifer, the better she felt about it.

"Was it your first time?" Selphie asked. Rinoa didn't know what to say and a silence broke the flow of the conversation. "Oh… did you bleed?"

"No…but it really hurt," she said quietly, as if someone would overhear, despite there being no one in the house but herself. "And I didn't like it very much."

Selphie snorted, then burst into hysterical laughter. For a moment Rinoa didn't know what she was laughing at, then wondered if Selphie was laughing at her because she was such an idiot.

"What?" Rinoa demanded annoyed.

"Yeah, I've heard he's pretty rubbish," Selphie said in her usual conversational tone, as if she was speaking about nothing very sensational. "He thinks he's such a player…except, you know, always thought that to be a player you needed something to play…you know? Since Seifer has nothing, he's more a slag than a player…"

Rinoa didn't know what to say. If Seifer slept around that much, why hadn't Selphie told her? Thank goodness they had used protection, or she might now be regretting her moment of carelessness a whole lot more.

"Rinoa, he's not worth you being upset," Selphie said, her voice changing to a caring tone. "He's like a rubbish place, everyone's been there…and no one ever goes back."

Rinoa wasn't too sure whether this was helping or not. At least it cleared her perspective a little more. She had been right, Seifer had used her, and she was nothing special to him. She was just one in a long line of girls that had been fooled by his words and actions. But hadn't she used him a little also? She hadn't cared for him, wasn't that a little deceitful too?

She decided to forgive herself. It was a mistake, but it wasn't the end of the world. She had gained an experience, albeit a disappointing one that had damaged her pride and shattered some illusions, but it was time draw a line and move on. It was time to tell Selphie her news. She started by discussing Squall.

"Do you think he likes you? Why else would he invite you?" Selphie asked intrigued. "Does your dad know?"

"See, that's the weird thing, he didn't mention it, he just said to call him and gave me some money."

"He's probably glad to get rid of you," Selphie said seriously.

"Hey!" Rinoa cried indignantly. "If you carry on like that, I'll think again about taking you with me."

Selphie screamed, and declared that she going to go and pack. When Rinoa tried to ask what she was going to tell Irvine, she couldn't get a coherent answer from her friend, and decided to end the call.

* * *

The taxi pulled up outside Selphie's house, and Squall got out to help Selphie with her bags.

"You're only going for a week," he grumbled lugging the two heavy cases to the car and storing them in the boot.

Selphie leapt into the back of the car and immediately opened a packet of travel sweets. She began offering them around. Squall now took the front seat and accepted a sweet just to stop Selphie pestering him. Rinoa was forced to abandon speaking with Squall to looking over Selphie's playlist, which she had created for the journey on her mp3 player.

Standing on the platform, Selphie a little further down on a bench, looking through her backpack for something, Squall moved closer to Rinoa.

"You sure you want to go to Balamb?" Squall asked nervously, she didn't look like she was excited anymore; she appeared to be having second thoughts.

Rinoa stopped staring at the train tracks, she supposed her face hadn't looked too happy. The truth was, she was worried about a great many things. What Balamb Garden would be like, and if anyone would want her there or if she would just be in the way? But mostly she was worried that Squall would regret asking her to accompany him.

She smiled as cheerfully as she could manage.

"Yeah… I'm sure."


	25. Balamb Garden

**A/N: **This chapter might answer some questions, or it might not. Thanks for the reviews guys!

**Chapter Twenty Five**

The snow globe hit the filing cabinet with such force that it made a loud clang and a heavy dent. It rolled onto the floor with it's little white specks of snow whirring inside like a snowstorm. Squall stared at it, the sudden burst of spontaneous anger slowly leaving him with every shaky breath. He had no idea how he had managed to keep it together for so long.

Once the rage subsided, a sense of the ridiculous set in. He had just thrown a snow globe across the room. The event seemed surreal, why was he acting like this? He'd been in plenty of worse situations. Retrieving the offending object, Squall watched its snow settle to the bottom in tiny drifts. Ellone had made him a present of this from her holiday in Trabia, and he now added guilt to the list of emotions he was feeling, by having treated it with disrespect.

He put it back on the self where it belonged, and felt his anger returning. Pressing the intercom he told his secretary to call up Quistis and Zell.

Squall sat in his office waiting, Quistis and Zell hadn't been expecting to be called to a meeting so soon, but it didn't excuse them for taking so long to arrive. He was trying to keep his temper cool, but it was difficult. He had been keeping a lid on it ever since last night, and he refused to start throwing other objects around in his office.

Quistis entered the room first, not expecting to be verbally attacked, and for a moment didn't know how to respond. Zell, who usually had to account for his actions, was more prepared.

"Who authorised the party?" Squall asked standing from his seat. His agitation was clearly visible, and Quistis couldn't remember the last time she had seen him so discomposed. She felt her mind go blank, she had no idea what he was talking about, and felt uncomfortable not having prepared an answer.

"What? What party?" Zell asked in his usual blunt manner. He was so used to being called in to see headmaster Cid, and on occasion Squall for his lax views on training his students, that being intimidated no longer featured in this situation.

"I thought I made it clear that although we were leaving, Rinoa's safety was still fundamental. Which one of you disregarded my orders?"

Squall couldn't help the tone of his voice, it was harsh, and he was fully aware that Quistis and Zell didn't deserve to be spoken to in this manner. But at the same time, he couldn't reign in his anger. It was _his_ fault that Rinoa had had to experience what she had. He should have expressly forbidden her to see Seifer, not rely on the hope that she would avoid him herself.

Maybe he hadn't been blunt enough? He had thought he had said enough before, and had thought she had understood his feelings about her friends. Obviously she had been too innocent to believe of Seifer, what he could see clearly.

"Seifer's party," Squall answered through gritted teeth.

"We didn't even know she was going out until we were leaving!" Zell said quickly, before Quistis could reply.

"Zell's right, by then it was too late to ask questions. I am sorry Squall, but we didn't have the time. We had the cadets waiting at the train station."

Even to her own ears her words sounded feeble. Whatever had happened to Rinoa at this party had clearly angered Squall, to such a degree that he was unable to rationally ask for an explanation.

"What happened?" Zell asked.

"That scumbag Seifer is what happened," Squall said before walking to the window. "If I ever see him again…" he trained off, but his words were no less threatening.

"Is… is she OK?" Quistis asked gently. She had understood what Squall had meant, even if Zell was still confused.

"What do you think?" Squall snapped walking to this desk now. "When I picked her up she was in tears. She's blaming herself."

Squall had been ready with plenty of disapproving words the moment he had received Rinoa's call. But when he had arrived at Seifer's house, and had seen her standing in the dark, alone and with tears running down her face, he had kept them to himself. The overwhelming anger he had first felt at hearing where she had gone changed into something more powerful, a desire to protect and defend her.

If she hadn't had been in such an emotional state he would had sought Seifer out, and in that moment would not have had much control over his actions. As it was, it was clear that Rinoa must be cared for first, she was more important to him than anything else.

He knew that she was blaming herself more than she should for what had happened; he could see it in her eyes. She felt ashamed. The last thing she needed was for him to start shouting at her. So he had swallowed his words, and kept his anger hidden. One day she would stop blaming herself…but until then, anything that he could say, she would take as more ammunition to beat herself up with.

"Zell," Quistis said not taking her eyes off of Squall. "Would you please give us a moment?"

Zell saluted Squall, and left. As far as was concerned he'd got off pretty lightly there, and if Quistis wanted to take the fall for this one, then she was welcome to it. He had no idea what was going on anyway, and didn't want to be reprimanded for something he didn't understand.

As soon as the door shut Quistis took a better look at Squall. He looked exhausted, and his actions were very out of character. Commander Leonhart would have called an official meeting, stated what had happened, told them what he was displeased with, and then asked for reports. This interview was born of something else.

"Squall, are you sure that your relationship with Rinoa has not become personal?" she asked, aware that in his present state she had no idea how he was going to react.

He turned his back on her. Squall not wanting to answer was usually a sign that she had touched a nerve somewhere, and Quistis had known Squall long enough not to pry any further.

"Commander," she said making it clear that this was strictly business. "I am not interested in anything further. I am asking because, if this is the case, I feel that I have been unduly pressed this afternoon into answering questions that were not essential. I therefore appeal that no action be taken against me, if Miss Heartily returned home safely."

She stood with correct SeeD posture, waiting. Maybe she was being hard on Squall, but a disciplinary mark against her name would stick for a long time. Besides, effectually she had no longer been employed to watch over Rinoa at the time of this incident. But she decided not to pull out the big guns. Squall was clearly struggling with something, and from the outside it looked pretty obvious what it was.

It took a while before anything more was said, but eventually Squall turned back and his face was resolved. He had come to terms with his mixed feelings, as Quistis' clearheaded words had laid everything bare. Yes, his feelings for Rinoa were no longer in the business sense.

"Thank you instructor Trepe. Nothing of what has been said in this room must be repeated to Rinoa. Understood? You may go."

Quistis left the room feeling dazed. That had to be the strangest thing that had ever happened, but she was relieved to get away. Squall could be extremely daunting to face when he was in his commander's office. But it was not that that had puzzled her; it was the instruction not to relay this to Rinoa. It would be very difficult to do anything other than asked, unless Squall had brought her with him.

* * *

Rinoa sat in the headmaster's office feeling annoyed. She had been unceremoniously abandoned by Squall as soon as they had arrived. And rather than being allowed to look around and admire the enormity that was Balamb Garden, she had been shunted into the elevator and whisked away to the office.

Cid had supplied them with cups of tea, and biscuits, like he would any other visitor, but beyond that he was at a loss of what to do with them.

"Balamb Garden doesn't have many visitors, other than family…" he said as if he wished more people would stop in for their holidays. "How long are you staying with us?"

Rinoa swallowed her tea to answer, but Selphie was quicker.

"I'm here for three days," she said ignoring Rinoa's surprised glance. "My boyfriend wants to take me out when I get back. Rinoa's staying longer."

"Oh, that's nice."

Cid had then excused himself as the phone was ringing. By the time he had finished his very informal conversation about fishing, the weather, and how he was looking forwards to the callers next visit, he was interrupted by the arrival of Quistis and Zell. The new arrivals looked stunned to see that the headmaster had company. Clearly whatever they had to say couldn't be said in Rinoa's and Selphie's presence.

"Ah, excellent. Perhaps you might like to escort these young ladies to the dormitories. It seems they have not yet seen where they will be staying."

Quistis frowned.

"I… I'm sorry sir, but I was not aware that Miss Heartily and her friend would be staying here. I haven't been told to assign them rooms," Quistis said uncomfortably.

Cid sighed.

"Yes, Mr Leonhart loves to spring surprises on me," he muttered turning to his computer. "Never tells me anything…"

He began tapping away; ignoring the fact that everyone was watching him expectantly. He printed something out and handed it to Selphie.

"You'll be happy to know that you are in the staff quarters," he said smiling joyfully.

Rinoa wondered why they should be happy about that. Were the student digs not very nice, or did he think that they would be happier nearer their 'friends'? She thanked him, even though she didn't understand, and took the information from Selphie, as she seemed loathed to take responsibility for it. Dragging their suitcases behind them, they closed the door on Quistis' voice, just as she said, "Sir, I have concerns about Sq…"


	26. Time for a Holiday?

**A/N:** Thanks gang for the reviews! Sorry, it was one of those irritating cliff-hangers last chapter, I just love those.

**Chapter Twenty Six**

Quistis waited as the headmaster adjusted his glasses before continuing. She hadn't been sure whether she should bring Zell along with her, but since he could also testify to the most part, it was always better to have someone with you that agreed.

"Sir, Squall has been working too hard. This incident with Clari has taken its toll on him. Everyday he has been up at that hospital, as well as continuing to fulfil Caraway's contract. I know that he feels its a personal failing that that girl got hurt, where in fact there was nothing more he could have done to protect the cadets," Quistis paused wondering whether she should say anymore. "Zell and I have tried to help, but we couldn't go against direct orders to stand down. He's been taking too much upon himself."

Cid frowned as he thought. It had perhaps been a mistake to have them in such close quarters to their mission, living with their ward had obviously allowed them little time to regroup and plan. He knew that tiredness was the biggest danger when it came to making decisions. But he didn't believe for one moment that Squall had made any decisions that had endangered the SeeD cadets and caused the accident.

"Do you think I should talk to him?" Cid asked. At the moment he was concerned, but had no idea how he was going to resolve this.

"If you think it would help…" Quistis replied uncertain that it would.

"You got to let things go," Zell said, feeling that he needed to add his thoughts. "Can't blame yourself. It's SeeD, bad things happen… if we blamed ourselves we'd all be in the councillors office."

Cid nodded.

"Well said Mr Dincht."

"He just called us for debriefing, but it wasn't like him at all. Might I suggest you assign him lighter duties? I worry he's going to work himself ill."

"Yeah, like a holiday!" Zell added excitedly.

"Hmm, thank you for coming to see me… I shall see what I can do. This girl, Miss Heartily… is she… would it be feasible to Squall that I suggest he spend time with her? Would I be on the right track?" Cid asked, trying not to pry.

"Sir, it's not my business, but they have been spending more time together than was necessary."

Cid nodded then rested his chin on steepled fingers.

* * *

Rinoa waited for the lift, they were on the third floor, and the lift was currently on the basement floor. Someone must have called it before Selphie had reached the button, because it had gone down before it came up again.

When the doors opened, Rinoa was surprised to find Squall inside. Rinoa wasn't sure whether Squall was getting out, or if he wanted her to carry on with finding her room. But Selphie pushed her way into the lift before anything could be said, and Rinoa decided to follow suit.

"Sorry," Squall said as they travelled back down to the ground level. "I had something to do…"

Rinoa knew he was apologising for leaving them on their own, and although at the time she had felt annoyed at being left, she understood that this was a place of work for him, and there would often be times that she'd have to entertain herself without him.

"Don't worry, at least me and Selphie got to meet Cid…and he assigned us rooms," Rinoa said holding the papers out for Squall to see. Squall frowned.

"I meant to do that…" he muttered.

"Cid is a darl," Selphie exclaimed enthusiastically. "He said I could sit in on SeeD classes, how cool is that! I can't wait to look around, you keep monsters here right?"

Rinoa smiled at Squall to see how he was reacting to her friend's talkative nature. She was glad to see that he smiled back at her before replying to Selphie's questions. Rinoa was glad that Selphie was talking, as Selphie asked about things which she would never have thought of, but found that she was greatly interested in the answers. She discovered that Squall had a lot to say about Balamb Garden, he was clearly very proud of the place. There didn't seem to be anything about Garden that he didn't know about.

They walked past the cafeteria on the way to the dormitories, and Selphie read this sign out with more gusto than the others. It seemed she was determined to remember where this particular wing was. It only became clear later why she had been so keen to commit it to memory. As they dropped their bags into their rooms, Selphie declared that she wanted to phone Irvine and unpack. This left Rinoa unexpectedly alone with Squall, until Selphie would join them for dinner later.

"Can we look around some more?" Rinoa asked, she heard her voice a nervous pitch higher than usual.

She had been alone with Squall many times, but she had never felt uneasy. She supposed it was because she was unsure of this place, and didn't know her way around, and yet she found it difficult to meet Squall's eye. Her words to Selphie about her feelings for Squall returned to her, but now they were confused.

Had she muddled her feelings with Squall, with something she had felt for Seifer, and come to the wrong conclusion? Or had her admiration for Squall led her to think she had felt more for Seifer? Her heart wouldn't speak to her; it was still hiding from being cruelly hurt.

"Wouldn't you prefer to explore with your friend?" Squall asked, he didn't want her to miss out on having fun with Selphie, just because she thought she had to stay with him.

Rinoa shook her head as positively as she could. She knew a tour with Squall would be totally different to wandering about with Selphie, there would be less giggling for one thing, but she wanted to see this place as he saw it.

"No, I'd rather you show me round. After all, you probably know this place better than anyone," she said smiling. "Come on."

Squall wondered where to take her next; he supposed the training centre was a good place to start. He didn't want her wandering in there on her own, not knowing what it was. Although, it was unlikely that she'd get past security, everyone needed a key to pass through the metal doors, but even so, he'd feel happier knowing she'd avoid the place.

Rinoa gazed down at the water running under the walkways as they went, which was made all the more impressive as the sun reflected upon it's surface. She smiled at Squall every time he looked her way, and was content just to walk in comfortable silence, admiring and wondering.

They stopped just before the next bridge.

"I've brought you here, because I don't want you to come here…" Squall said making Rinoa frown.

"You know that makes no sense right?" she said knowing that she hadn't let him finish his sentence.

"…Alone. I don't want you to come here by yourself. Or… Just don't cross this bridge unless you're with me."

Rinoa smirked. Wow, it really seemed to mean a lot to him that she promised never to set foot in there. She wondered why. But more importantly she was thankful that he was taking the time to be concerned. Even if she had probably given him the impression that danger was right up her street, from her constant rule breaking back home.

"Commander!" a young boy called, as he appeared out of the glass doors up ahead. "My instructor needs to see you!"

Squall nodded and headed towards the boy, Rinoa excitedly followed behind him.

"This is the training centre," he said over his shoulder, before scanning an electronic badge into a computer to open the doors. "It's where we keep live monsters for the SeeDs to train against."

Rinoa felt a chill go up her spine as they stepped through the metal doors, and entered a world of darkness, surrounded by high walls and flashing yellow lights. The sound of electricity crackling through the fences around the perimeter made Rinoa jump. Whatever these monsters were, they weren't low level, and the staff were doing everything possible to keep them inside.

There was a group of people gathered together in a small clearing. On either side of them was a door to the inner training centre. Rinoa kept close to Squall, wondering if there were monsters hiding nearby. The instructor was a man in his late twenties, who looked totally unfazed by the fact that he was about to take a group of kids into a place where they would be attacked by monsters. He was adjusting the night-vision goggles on his head as Squall approached.

"Ah, Commander," he said before saluting, prompting his students to do the same. "Level 10 cadets, do you authorise level 12 monsters?"

His question went right over Rinoa's head, but she saw that the eager looks on the cadet's faces, and they obviously wanted Squall to say yes.

"Teams of three," Squall answered. "No less," he added towards the cadets in case they should think about taking on more than they could handle.

As the class finished adjusting their weapons and sorting their magics, Squall lead Rinoa around to the security building where they stood watching the same group on the CCTV monitoring system. Taking a seat, Rinoa watched transfixed as the group divided up into teams of three and began to walk further into the undergrowth.

She was aware that Squall wasn't looking at the monitor anymore, but was watching her face. But rather than turn to face him, she kept staring forwards, the events on the TV were too interesting to look away from. The first group had now encountered a monster, and the other group hung back as the instructor began talking them through the battle.

"It looks dangerous," Rinoa said quietly not looking away, "And fast."

When Squall didn't reply, she wondered whether she had made any sense.

"You know, um, they have fast reactions," she explained, now turning to face Squall and seeing that he was still watching her. "I could never do that."

"They have been training for years," Squall said breaking his eye contact with her and looking away. "And I think that you could."

Rinoa smiled, unsure how to react and gazed embarrassingly away. She was about to thank him when she heard a beeping coming from something attached to his belt. Squall looked at the name on the gadget and gestured with his hand for Rinoa to follow him.

"I'm wanted in the office," he said as they left the training centre.

Rinoa wondered whether this was a trip where her presence wouldn't be welcome. He might want to go alone, and not want her to know his business.

"It's this way."

Squall's ambiguous words gave Rinoa the answer she had wanted, that she wouldn't be unwelcome, and she followed him back to the lift.


	27. Meet the Family

**A/N:** Thank you everyone who read the last chapter. Yup, there is something on the horizon for Squall and Rinoa. Here 'tis!

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

Rinoa smiled nervously at Quistis and Zell as she re-entered Cid's office. She was still a little unsure whether or not she should be here, listening in on whatever was about to be said to Squall, but so far, no one asked her to leave. Cid stood as Squall walked towards him and then saluted.

"Ah Squall, I want you to take a few weeks annual leave."

"Sir?" Squall asked surprised. He was being taken off duties? What had Quistis been saying now? She was constantly still treating him like he was one of her students still, worrying and fussing. He didn't need a holiday, especially not after the week he'd just had. As soon as he was on leave, somehow his father always found out.

"No refusal Squall, you're taking a holiday," Cid said ignoring him. "Oh, and there's something else. Your father has invited you to Esthar."

He knew it! Never a moment's peace. He'd refuse is he didn't think it would hurt his sister's feelings.

Rinoa saw the look of exasperation on Squall's face, although everyone else decided to ignore it. She supposed she would feel the same if she was being ordered to take a holiday against her own judgement. Although she had to agree, Squall could probably do with some time off, what with the stress of the injured girl, and her own unhelpful rule breaking.

"You could take Miss Heartilly," Cid continued. "Lots of shopping opportunities," he added winking at Rinoa as if he was in the knowledge that all girls her age loved to shop.

Rinoa couldn't deny that a chance to visit yet _another_ country was appealing. But she had decided to come _here_, and it would be a bit ungrateful if she agreed with Cid and bullied Squall into taking her somewhere he didn't wish to go.

"Sir, I…" Squall tried, but he knew it was useless.

Quistis and Zell must have complained pretty hard, or at least Quistis had. He didn't blame her, he'd complained about her enough times. Cid now treated it as par for the course, since they often bickered in his office like brother and sister.

"Quistis is going to pick up your office work, and Zell will take your classes, and I think I can manage a few more hours a day," Cid said in a light-hearted way, but told Squall that it was settled. At the end of the day, he was still under Cid's command, and if the man told him he had to take a break, then there was very little point arguing.

Squall looked at Rinoa, who smiled at him encouragingly. She hadn't been able to stay still since Cid had suggested they both go to Esthar, and it was clear she was hoping Squall would agree, but at the same time desperate not to give away her excitement.

"Fine," Squall said in defeat.

Cid clapped his hands as it was all finally sorted. Then he turned back to his computer and pressed a button.

Rinoa jumped as a screen on the wall burst into life, and two people looked out over them. One was a man with long brown hair, tied back without too much care, and the other a girl, around Rinoa's age who had a striking resemblance to Squall. At first they didn't realise that they were on camera, and were both looking the wrong way.

"You have got to be joking." Rinoa heard Squall mutter beside her. As soon as he spoke the man realised that he was on screen.

"Squall, son! How are you?" the man asked smiling, and completely ignoring the irritated look on his son's face. The man's gaze then swept the room. "Cid, great to see you. Oh, and Quistis, Zell, always a pleasure… and…" his gaze fell on Rinoa.

She smiled uncertainly, wondering whether Squall would remember to introduce her.

"We'll leave you to it then," Cid said ushering Quistis and Zell out of the room.

"What do you want?" Squall asked, his arms folded. It seemed he wasn't about to introduce Rinoa, not if it made the conversation any longer, that, or he was too annoyed to remember his manners.

"Well…" the man said confused, but then was pushed aside by the girl.

"Hey Squall, guess what, dad bought me a car!" she said excitedly, she gave Rinoa a wide smile which Rinoa found herself returning without thought. She had to be Squall's sister, and the man Squall's father, and it seemed Squall had indeed been telling the truth, as the man was definitely the president of Esthar, as she had seen him on TV before.

"You can't drive," Squall replied in a matter of fact way. The girl frowned.

"I _so_ can drive. I passed yesterday actually," she said, showing him her driving licence. "See? So there. And look…" she said bending forwards so that they were flashed a view down her top.

"Ellone I don't want to see…" Squall protested, obviously concerned that she was about to show them her bra, or, well he didn't know, but whatever it was, he didn't want to see. It soon became clear that she had been trying to show off her necklace.

"It's really nice," Rinoa said as the diamond on the end of the dainty chain came into focus.

Ellone sat back and smiled.

"Thanks…er…"

"Rinoa," Rinoa said, she felt slightly weird introducing herself, thinking that Squall's sister seemed to be his complete opposite.

"My boyfriend gave it to me. But all I got from Squall was a card," she said teasingly. "And he never writes much in it, so I had to do some editing."

She held the card to the camera, and Rinoa read out _'To Ellone, the greatest sister in all the world. I owe you a round of birthday drinks, because you are so much cooler than me. Ellone rocks. Love Squall xxxx.' _

Squall rolled is eyes; his sister could be very annoying. He hadn't bought her anything for her birthday because she had told him not to. She wanted some kind of family get together instead, and of course she then expect Squall to surprise her with a gift he had secretly bought her, against all of her pleading not to bother. It happened every year. Ellone liked a fuss, Squall preferred to be left alone.

"I didn't write that," he muttered, but it was useless as no one was listening.

"You will come wont you, please, it's my birthday. Cid said he's given you holiday too, so you can't refuse!" Ellone pleaded.

Rinoa was struck by how alike she and Squall looked, and his father wasn't exactly ugly. She wondered what his mother had looked like, probably just like Ellone.

"Whatever."

"Yes! OK, see you soon," Ellone cheered before disappearing out of shot.

* * *

Rinoa followed Squall back towards the lift, he hadn't said anything yet about the conversation with his family, and hadn't repeated Cid's suggestion that she go with him. Although she thought it was a-given that she would, she would rather be invited properly. Plus, she needed to know for sure, because she had the problem of what to do about Selphie.

As she followed him into the lift, her phone bleeped. Unable to ignore it, she opened her message. Her heart jumped and began to race when she realised it was from Seifer. What did he want?

'_Hey babe, been thinkin of ya. How u been? Seifer_'

Rinoa frowned, and made sure Squall wasn't looking over her shoulder. She decided that Seifer didn't deserve a reply, and put her phone back in her pocket. It was only an hour later, when Selphie was queuing for her dinner in the cafeteria, and she was sat alone, that she thought about it again.

If she ignored it, she was telling him that she wasn't interested. But if she replied, and told him that she was great, wasn't that a better punishment? She might be at home crying over him for all Seifer knew… better to tell him she was on an adventure at Balamb.

'_Hi, I'm great thanx. With Selphie at Balamb Garden, it's awesome.'_

She didn't sign her text, keep it brief and sharp she thought, and he was bound to get the picture. But she had to admit, that his text had made her feel better. He had got what he wanted, but he was still interested, and that said something, right?

Squall and Selphie joined her a few minutes later with the food; Squall passed her the sausage and chips he had queued up to get for her, and a milkshake. She noticed he had got the same for himself, and decided that she really had converted him to junk food.

Selphie sighed, and when no one asked what the matter was, she was forced to tell them.

"Irvine is coming to Balamb. He's renting a room at the hotel. We're going to have a picnic on the beach…" she said wistfully, then suddenly sat up straighter as if suddenly thinking of something. "Oh no, that means… Sorry Rin, but I can't go with you to Esthar. I'll have to stay, Irvine's gone to all this trouble and all…"

"Oh," Rinoa said surprised. Squall had already spoken to her? She hadn't expected that. "That's OK. Are you sure you're be alright here by yourself?"

Selphie shrugged, that didn't bother her at all.

"Irvine will be here tomorrow, so I wont be."

Rinoa bit her lip. It would just be her and Squall then… oh, and his family. Not scary at all.

* * *

"So," Selphie said as they walked back to their rooms. "You gonna tell me what's going on with you and Squall? He's taking you to meet his dad, you thought about that?"

Rinoa felt a chill run over her exposed arms, Selphie wasn't making her any less nervous about tomorrow. She had been trying _not_ to think about it, but Selphie wasn't going to let the subject lie.

"_And_ his sister."

"Selph, I don't want to think about it," Rinoa said putting her cardkey into the door and letting them both into the room. "Besides, he didn't _really_ invite me, it's just that he has to take me with him."

"He could have dumped you on Zell and Quistis…" Selphie suggested with an eyebrow raised. "But he didn't."

Rinoa shook her head. There was nothing to worry about; Selphie was just making things up to entertain herself.

"But, what's going on anyway? I mean, you told me you thought you loved Squall, then that thing with Seifer happened, and now you're here, and Squall's going to introduce you to his family… what the hell? And I thought my love life was complicated," Selphie paused, wondering whether she had asked more than she was entitled to know, but when Rinoa said nothing, she decided to press on. "Does Squall know about Seifer… I mean, really know?"

Rinoa blushed as she nodded.

"Yeah, he knows. So you see, he can't like me, not anymore if he ever did, he's just being nice."

"Unless he really really likes you," Selphie said a puzzled expression on her face. "And it doesn't matter."

Rinoa looked sceptical.

"No one is _that_ nice Selph… at least, not to me anyway."

Now it was Selphie's turn to look sceptical, she was sure that there was something going on between Squall and Rinoa. And she knew that Rinoa felt more for him than she was letting on, she had admitted as much herself before. But she could understand. She'd run into the arms of the wrong person before, thinking that she didn't deserve the attentions of someone so seemingly good. But it wouldn't do any good to tell Rinoa this; she'd have to work it all out on her own.

"Well, OK, but you know you can call me anytime, right?" Selphie said offering her friend all the support she could give, just one call away.


	28. To Esthar

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

Rinoa watched Selphie bouncing on the balls of her feet, excitedly waiting for Irvine to arrive. He was supposed to be renting a car and driving to Balamb Garden, then would take Selphie into town, at least, that was the plan. Rinoa was waiting with her bags in a semicircle, surrounding her feet, and feeling as excited as Selphie, but also sick with nerves.

Squall was going to be meeting her here at the main gate, but must have gotten held up somewhere, which wasn't doing anything to calm Rinoa down. Every moment she waited she imagined something else going wrong. Her biggest worry was that Squall's sister would not like her, and since it seemed Squall and Ellone were very close, _she_ would be the one to impress, not the father.

"He's late," Selphie said impatiently, a foot tapping a rhythm into the concrete.

"He is," Rinoa agreed, thinking of Squall.

"He said he'd be here, this is just like Irvine, always making me wait around."

Rinoa nodded, remembering that they were not waiting for the same person. She wondered whether Selphie was just eager to get going, or if she was nervous about seeing Irvine. It would be the first time they were away from home together, and everyone always said, a holiday was make or break. It was the moment in a relationship there was no escaping each other's company, and when you came to the conclusion of whether you actually like the person you were with. As for her and Squall, well since there was nothing to break, she could check that worry off of her list.

"Look, there," Rinoa said pointing. "He's only a few minutes late after all."

Selphie skipped down the steps, and waited for the car to draw nearer. As it parked outside, Rinoa noticed that it wasn't only Irvine inside. Selphie's happy smile fell from her face, obviously realising that her week of romance was going to be ruined.

All of the colour drained from Rinoa's face as she realised it was Seifer. Refusing to walk down the steps, Rinoa stood her ground and watched him get out of the car.

"Aren't you coming?" Seifer shouted up to her, holding open the car door, waiting for her to join him.

Rinoa looked at Selphie, puzzled. Selphie shrugged, just as confused. She had never said to Irvine that Rinoa would be coming with them, as she thought she had made it quite clear that she was looking forward to being alone with him. Not wanting to get involved in this, Selphie began putting her bags into the boot of the car.

"I'm not going with you," Rinoa said lightly, hoping that they'd just put it down as a misunderstanding. But Seifer looked annoyed.

"What do you mean? I've come all this way to take you out," he said, his voice accusing.

Rinoa couldn't believe that he had honestly thought she'd want to go anywhere with him. He'd made it pretty clear before that he didn't want a girlfriend, so what would be the point? She wasn't prepared to wait around until he decided he wanted her company, and look the other way when he didn't.

"Something wrong?"

Rinoa turned to see Squall stood beside her. She shook her head embarrassed. This was all she needed, to remind Squall about Seifer. Both Squall and Seifer stared at each other like sworn enemies, and Rinoa desperately thought of a way out of a confrontation.

Seifer swaggered around the front of the car to be nearer to them, squaring up to Squall, telling him to come down and face him. The challenge caught the attention of a few passers-by, who didn't know whether to continue walking, or draw weapons to defend their commander. They stood hovering instead, ready to act if need be. Squall walked down the steps, without the swagger Seifer seem to think was necessary.

Rinoa looked around hoping someone would put a stop to this, but whilst more and more people were gathering, no one was moving. Rinoa didn't know what was going to happen, but it was soon clear that if she didn't _want_ it to happen, then she'd have to get involved. She hurried after Squall.

"Rinoa is supposed to be coming with me," Seifer said not looking at Rinoa, even though she was clearly confused and refuting the claim.

Overhead there was a rumbling noise like far away thunder, never ceasing, and growing louder by the second. Rinoa looked up at the sky, it was bright blue, and the birds had abandoned it to the noise. She wanted to ask Squall what it was, but it wasn't the time.

"Do you want to go with Seifer?" Squall asked, patiently waiting for Rinoa to answer.

"No," Rinoa said. "And I never said I was going to either."

Squall turned back to Seifer as if it was case closed, but Seifer was enraged. He felt Rinoa had tricked him here, even if it had all been his own assumption. He'd assumed that Rinoa would be going with Selphie, and therefore wouldn't be adverse to some company. He'd had too high an opinion of himself, and he wasn't prepared for being knocked down a peg.

"Fine. But remember, I had her first!"

Squall's hand clenched into a fist, and he raised his arm. He'd hit this man once and he'd do it again, even with all these people watching, but Rinoa was faster. Her knuckles cracked into the softness of his left eye and sent him reeling, clutching at his face, his eye streaming.

She heard someone whoop from amongst the crowd, and spotted Selphie's shocked face. She hadn't really been aiming. His words had been the red rag to the bull, and she had acted without thinking. In hindsight maybe it would have been better to have let Squall hit him, at least he might have done some more damage. As it was Seifer had been poked in the eye with great force, and while the excruciating pain would soon end, it had been enough to strike her message home.

In the chaos, Rinoa had missed the landing of the great red airship that was to take her to Esthar, and it soon became clear that the crowd had been assembling to see its arrival, rather than her argument. She took Squall's offered hand, waved to Selphie, and waved to the rather stunned spectators and climbed aboard.

"I am so embarrassed," Rinoa confessed sitting in the first seat she found. She waited for Squall to greet the pilot and send the SeeDs that had joined them onboard to another part of the ship.

Squall sat beside her, he watched her flushed expression and her hands nervously tucking her hair behind her ears. She wouldn't look at him, but eventually became still. She looked down at his hand instead, resting next to hers on the armrest. They were so close, that she almost imagined feeling the warmth of his skin on her own.

"You should put your seatbelt on," Squall advised.

Rinoa, flustered, stared down at her lap unseeing. She panicked; worried she'd never find her seatbelt in time. She heard Squall click his into place, but seeing her with only one end of hers, he reached across her. His hand grazed across her stomach and made her jump.

"Sorry."

"It's OK," Rinoa assured him, her voice barely there.

He kept her gaze as he clicked her belt into place, and for one breathless moment Rinoa thought he was about to kiss her. He'd leant in so close that she was sure; and her beating heart told her so. He felt something for her, she could see it, this very small instant in time told her everything she'd wanted to hear.

The ship shook as it lurched off of the ground, and the moment was lost. Squall looked away and when he looked around at her again she was forced to wonder if she had imagined such things in his eyes.

* * *

The journey lasted until the late afternoon, and Rinoa had become bored of looking out the window a long time ago. Squall had left her a couple of times to check on the pilots and the SeeDs, but had always returned to sit beside her, even if she could think of nothing to talk about to make the travelling seem faster.

Her thoughts were still caught on Seifer's reappearance in her life, and what she had thought she'd seen in Squall's eyes. By the time the airship touched down she had barely said anything to Squall, which begged the question of why he'd spent all his time sat next to a silent and boring passenger.

A solemn looking man, who came aboard to find them, greeted them. Rinoa smiled at him, but he didn't return it. At first she thought he was being rude, then she realised that he was looking only at Squall, and Squall was sheet white. Something bad had happened. The man told them that without even having to speak.

"Sir, your father has requested that you come with us, it's the fastest way through the city," the man said.

"What's happened?" Squall asked as he followed, Rinoa hurrying along behind him.

"It's your sister Sir, she's been in a car accident."


	29. Kiss

**A/N:** Ok, not to give anything away, but I put some Squinoa squeeee into this chapter. I think I'm mad, I write this to escape my day job, and yet hospitals seem to be featuring regularly. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far!!

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

Seeing Squall so worried frightened Rinoa, it unnerved her that someone she looked up to as her protector, was in desperate need of comfort himself. It was an overwhelming sense of deja-vu that struck her as soon as they entered the hospital, and the sensation couldn't have been lost on Squall either.

The white washed walls offered little comfort other than the sensation of bright cleanliness. Squall's father met them as they entered the ward, and he pulled his son into a tight embrace that Squall did not fight against. Rinoa didn't know where to look, feeling as she was intruding on family grief.

Squall's father introduced himself as 'Laguna' and shook her hand, but it was a hurried and distracted introduction. He told her that he wished they could meet under better circumstances, and Rinoa couldn't think of anything to say.

Ellone had been taken to orthopaedics, just before they had arrived, where she was to have a bone reset in her left arm. Laguna was pacing the corridor waiting for her to be brought back.

"She's OK," he informed them as he walked. "They had a neck brace on her when I first got here. They took it off after they'd x-rayed her spine. Her arm was broken though, compacted fracture they called it, but I don't know what it means. She needed an anaesthetic before they could sort it… it might take a while for her to come round."

Knowing that it was nowhere near as terrible as they had first imagined, Squall sank down into one of the chairs for visitors and stared at the opposite wall with a blank expression. Rinoa smiled nervously at Laguna, who ran a hand through his hair not knowing how to help the situation.

"Shall I get some drinks?" he offered. "I can't just stand here… I have to do something…"

Rinoa looked at Squall, but he didn't seem to hear a word his father had said, so she answered for them.

"Thanks, that would be kind," she said, knowing that he was desperate to be doing something, however small.

He walked away with nervous glances back towards them, just in case they should change their mind and call him back.

"I thought she was dead," Squall said hanging his head. "In the car they'd tell us nothing."

Rinoa raised her hand to put it on his arm, but thought he might not appreciate her effort of comforting. She hesitated then put her hand back down on her own lap.

"They didn't know," she said soothingly. "They couldn't tell you because they didn't know."

Squall stood up abruptly but clearly had no idea what to do with his frustration and his worry. He took a step forwards then turned and walked another way. Rinoa watched him warily, he looked as if he might lash out without realising, and she didn't want to be in the way when he did.

Being an only child, Rinoa couldn't imagine how it might be to think you could lose a sibling. She had people tell her before that they wouldn't be able to live anymore if their brother or sister were taken away. She thought about how deep a love might induce you to take your own life, because you were so lost without that person.

She tried to remember how she had felt at the death of her mother. At the time she thought it would never stop hurting, the grief had been too powerful to see through. But never had she thought for one moment that she couldn't carry on living. She knew her mother would want her to succeed in life, even if she wasn't around to see. She wondered whether Squall could have carried on living without his sister.

"She doesn't deserve this," he said fiercely, rounding on Rinoa and then thinking better of it and turning away again.

Rinoa nodded. She didn't think anything she could say would make it any better; it would be best to let the storm of his anger blow over before she said anything. She was worried she'd only make it worse anyway by saying the wrong thing.

"She is my sister Rin, I'm meant to look after her…"

"You can't save everyone Squall," she said gently, and her soft-spoken words cut through the irrationality in the air. Squall sat down looking exhausted. "You spend your whole life protecting people… there must be hundreds of people out there who are better off because of you. _I am_. And, it isn't your fault Ellone got hurt… bad things happen."

Squall shook his head as Rinoa's words of sense sank into his muddled mind. His shoulders slumped downwards as the fight went out of him. Rinoa was right, there was nothing he could have done to save his sister. She was older than him for a start, and needed to live her own life. Besides, he lived a much more dangerous life, which he knew she worried over. He couldn't give that up, nor could he expect Ellone to never again get into a car.

"I wish I loved someone as much," Rinoa said quietly and to herself. "You know," she added when she realised Squall was watching her. "So much that I'd rather die than them."

"Do you?" he asked. Her idea puzzled him.

"It must be nice."

She looked away down the corridor, watching people in uniforms busily working, and doctors reading through patient files before making their decisions. Everyone seemed to have a purpose here, something to be doing, a difference to be made. She was the only one here who had been wasting her life away, behaving stupidly.

There had been many incidences when she herself could have been in a car crash. Seifer often was over the limit when driving. It could have been her having her broken bones reset, with her father pacing the corridors sick with worry. That is, if she had been lucky enough to survive.

She doubted she would have. You could only have so much luck in your life, and meeting Squall had probably used up all her credits.

"I'm glad that you're here," Squall said suddenly.

Rinoa didn't know how to respond. If anything she had felt in the way, and not helping at all. She was happy to be wrong. She felt a genuine smile on her face that she couldn't hide.

"You're welcome."

It was if they were back on the airship again, with the same confusing emotion surrounding them. They had been sat together for some time now, and not once had Rinoa felt nervous. All of a sudden it was if someone had shaken her feelings, and she couldn't decide what she felt.

Her hand moved of it's own accord, across her chair's armrest and onto his. Her fingers snaking over the back of his hand, and lacing into his. Squall didn't look at her, but turned his hand over so that they were palm to palm, their finger's interlocked.

Rinoa smiled at him and saw his other hand tighten on the armrest at his other side. Half standing from her seat, she leant over him, watching his eyes focus on her lips as she drew closer. Slowly she moved closer, her confidence growing with every passing second that he didn't tell her to stop.

She wondered whether she would even hear him anyway, as her heartbeat threatened to drown out the binging of medical machines, and the chatter of the staff. Someone could have walked by and they wouldn't have known. The background faded away, and all that seemed important was that Rinoa should continue to move closer, until every glance and confused emotion between them was finally answered.

He met her lips as calmly as she pressed hers to his, as if the kiss had been forever in the making, and long expected. Rinoa closed her eyes as her nerves disappeared, and a triumphant exhilaration filled her. This soft kiss, with lips barely moving meant more to her than any other she had ever experienced. Never before had she forgotten where she was, or cared less whether someone might see. Nothing mattered but Squall.

Rinoa looked into his eyes before sitting back down. Her heart, which had momentarily stopped, now thumped in her chest painfully. She didn't know what would happen now, and nor did it look like Squall had any ideas either. He looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time.

"I'm sorry," Rinoa said looking at the floor. "I've wanted to do that for a really long time… you can send me home if you want. Dad will understand…"

Squall frowned.

"Why would I want to do that?"

Rinoa looked up to see a slight smirk on his face. Oh no, she thought, what have I created? He's going to tease me about this forever. She bit her lip against the smile and her eyes widened. He wanted her to stay? Stay after she'd kissed him? Then that meant that he must feel the same?

"But I thought that…"

"What did you think that all those times…"

Whatever Squall was about to say, it was interrupted by the arrival of a nurse.


	30. New Friend

**A/N: **There are quite a few birthdays on ffnet at the moment, and it's mine also! I'm going to be 21 this Thursday! Hurray! So, you are all invited to my online birthday party, and if someone wants to offer to be my date for the evening, I wont say no. ** Thank you for the reviews everyone! **

**Chapter Thirty**

_Talk about timing_, Rinoa thought, turning her face away to hide her blush. Whatever Squall had been about to say would have to wait now. Her mind raced with different scenarios. What if the kiss had just been an in-the-moment thing? Thinking it was a good idea because he was so sick with worry. Rinoa was worried that his muddled brain might have tricked him into saying anything.

Rinoa looked down at the ground as the nurse informed Squall about his sister's condition. Selfishly she wished that the nurse had waited two minutes before interrupting them! But, Rinoa supposed that when someone had just been in a car accident, then that was far more important.

Squall was forced to ignore Rinoa's averted face, with the arrival of the nurse. As much as he needed to tell Rinoa what he felt, his sister was still his first priority, and she couldn't be told to wait. Ellone might have been lost to him, forever, but Rinoa would stay with him today. He wouldn't let her go anywhere, not until he had told her what he needed to say.

They were to go into Ellone's room; she was currently coming round from her anaesthetic, and would be soon awake. Hesitating outside the room, Rinoa stayed behind Squall, and loitered at the doorway. The door closed on her and she didn't know whether to look through the little window, or just wait. Not realising that Rinoa had stopped, Squall entered the room alone. Seeing that Ellone still had her eyes closed, Squall turned and was about to offer Rinoa a chair, but was surprised to see that she was no longer with him.

"Come in," he invited, holding the door open for her, and standing to the side to make way.

Rinoa's uncertain face confused him.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly so that the nurse wouldn't overhear.

Rinoa looked down at the ground, her face flushed.

"I don't think I should. This is your family… I'm in the way here… and your sister doesn't know me," Rinoa explained in an equally quiet voice.

Squall looked down at the ground. How little she knew of how much she meant to him. Already, in the short time of knowing one another, he had made her a part of his life, without her even realising. She thought she was a stranger to his family, when it was Ellone who had learned to love her first.

From the first moment he had arrived in her home, he had known that he was out of his depth watching out for a girl like Rinoa. It was Ellone who had given him the advice. She'd told him to be patient, to treat her kindly and not expect too much. Rinoa was a girl of seventeen, not a SeeD cadet primed for war.

Through Ellone, he had begun to see that Rinoa didn't live a life without care as he'd first thought; she just lived in a different world to his. He had been too hard on her at first, dismissing her behaviour as thoughtless, and her life as meaningless.

When the time was right, he would apologise for that assumption.

It wasn't long before he became fascinated with what she chose to do with her time. She studied and went to school, even though she didn't have to. She could have dropped out, but she hadn't. She had one good friend, who had surprised him, by being a confident individual who didn't follow others, even if Rinoa was led by her example.

His opinion of Rinoa had changed the more he knew of her. At first she was a spoilt girl who disrespected her father by sneaking out of the house and coming home drunk. But once he had made his opinion known to her, she had changed. Working hard at school and getting the marks she needed. He had come to the conclusion that she was just lost.

Rinoa was fighting to find herself, amongst a sea of people who seemed to have their lives together. Perhaps his words had been so close to the truth, that they might have damaged her, had she not been grownup enough to push it aside and continue.

She was easily led by others who appeared stronger, like Selphie, who behaved older than her years. Seifer must have seemed like an opportunity to grow up even more.

He had been about to tell her, this…

_What, did you think that all those times I drove you around, taking you to school… all the times I stayed at home with you, took you everywhere with me… that I had to? _

He wanted to say more, but whether he'd ever find the courage was another matter. He looked at her down turned face and wished that all of his thoughts would just appear in her mind, so that she would know, and she would never look as sad again.

"You need some time alone, I'll come back in a bit."

No words to make her stay would come to him. He called himself a coward.

"Soon," he said, taking her hand, and not letting go until she promised. He didn't think he could have her out of his sight for too long, something might happen to her.

"Soon," Rinoa repeated. "I'll be back soon. I promise."

Rinoa's father had not told him enough in the beginning to give Rinoa her due. The truth had only come a week after his arrival. The general was asking after his daughter, and offered squall more information about Rinoa.

_"When her mother died, Rinoa grew up too fast. We both worked ourselves too hard, and Rinoa's school marks were as good as I could ever have wished, better even. I should have been more of a father to her… I was glad that she went out with her friends at first… but I was scared after being so withdrawn for so long, she wouldn't be able to handle it. Do you understand?"_

Squall hadn't understood. But Ellone had, after he'd relayed the story to her later on.

_"He's worried she'll go overboard with the freedom, and it sounds like she has a little already. He's just trying to protect her."_

This was why Squall regretted being so tough on her before. He had not been wasting her life. She had seen a chance of fun, and had run headlong into it, desperate to try everything, in case it should disappear and she went back to being alone.

She hadn't changed her life at his words; she had just given up her escape. He didn't know how much she realised of this herself, but it didn't matter. She was who she was, but it didn't matter, because he liked her anyway.

Rinoa stepped out through the main doors, which slid apart as she approached, and headed round the corner out of the way. Leaning against the wall, she was aware that people were also standing around like her, but she didn't bother to make eye contact. She didn't feel much like talking.

Staring at the traffic, she watched cars fighting it out for a parking pace in the car park opposite, and the occasional patient being bought outside, loaded into an ambulance and being driven to freedom. A waft of cigarette smoke drifted past her face, and she held her breath as it stung her eyes.

"Sorry," the old man said beside her, then pointing his cigarette the other way. "That was rude of me."

Rinoa shrugged. Her mood was low, and she couldn't even muster the words to speak to an old man in a hospital nightgown. She looked down at his slipper-clad feet.

"S'alright," she mumbled. Suddenly her brain registered his appearance, if he was a patient, he might be ill, and feeling sorry for him prompted her to look up and smile. "It's OK."

She looked behind him to the sign behind his head; it was so large that no one could miss it. _No Smoking_.

"Hey, do you think you should be…"

The man waved his cigarette hand in a dismissive way.

"Too late for me," he said casually. "Cancer," he added in way of explanation. "Might as well enjoy 'em now, ey?"

Rinoa didn't know what to say. He might be making light of the fact that he was dying, but she didn't think she had the right to join in. In truth she felt shocked that someone would share this information with a stranger, but perhaps hospital was like some kind of club, what are you here for?

"Oh," she said, a corner of her mouth trying to smile reassuringly, but not quite managing it. "I'm sorry."

"Visiting someone are you?" he asked.

"Yeah, kind of," Rinoa answered, glad he didn't think she was a patient. "My friend's sister. At least, I suppose he's my friend… it's kinda complicated."

The old man flicked the cigarette to the floor and stubbed it out with his slipper.

"So why are you out here?"

Rinoa hesitated before answering. Because Squall needs some space. Because I'm confused. Because I'm in the way… she didn't know if the man wanted that much information, he was probably just being polite after all. Compared to cancer, her problems didn't seem so bad.

"If his sister is ill, he'll want you there… you should go back in. The complicated stuff always works itself out in the end."

Rinoa didn't answer. He was right. Squall not only needed her support, but he'd asked for it too. She was being selfish again, thinking about her own minor worries, before others. At the end of the day, the last week's events had put things into perspective. She should just ask him whether he liked her, and tell him her feelings, because even if he turned her down, it was nowhere near as painful as being mauled by a monster, hit by a car, or dying from cancer.

"You're right. Thanks for talking to me."

The man nodded to tell her she was welcome.

Rinoa pushed herself away from the wall, and said goodbye to her new friend. She wasn't going to let life pass her by anymore. She thought she had been living a fuller life with all her adventures with Selphie, but had come to realise that she was merely doing what other people wanted. She wasn't going to be a feature in someone else's life anymore; she was going to be the main character.

She was going to start by finding Squall, and being a better friend.


	31. Ellone Awake

**A/N: **Thank you for all the birthday wishes, I had a great time, even though my friends dressed me in a pink cowboy hat, a banner, badge and helium balloon! Hououza what are you talking about, 28 is perfect. Wink. Everyone please direct thanks for the update to ElexirRasmus, who told me to hurry up, lol.

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* * *

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Chapter Thirty One

Rinoa gingerly opened the door and smiled nervously at the three people who were sitting inside. President Laguna had been talking loudly before she had interrupted, but now he sat politely quiet and watching her, waiting for someone else to speak. She didn't feel as if she was intruding, in fact it seemed like the president was pleased she had reappeared, his expression was welcoming. Her eyes flickered to Squall, who was equally awaiting her to speak, and then to Ellone.

She looked dazed and still drowsy, as if events were moving too quickly to comprehend and she had not yet realised that there was someone at the door. Ellone looked over last and her eyes took a while to focus.

Rinoa found that she didn't know what to say. She didn't know whether to apologise and go outside again, or introduce herself. She stood hopelessly until Squall offered her his chair.

"Thanks," she said, "Um, it's OK for me to be here?" she asked uncertainly.

"Of course," Squall replied standing to her side.

She felt his hand touch her shoulder in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture, but it only caused her heart to beat even faster and for her to be even more nervous. She wished that they could be alone, but was afraid of that also. Her strong resolve of before was beginning to fail and the butterflies were growing in number in her stomach, just his touch was enough to make her panic.

"Ellone will be coming home later," Laguna informed her, "You'll have to sign her cast, I have, Squall did too..."

"Oh, sure I will, if Ellone wants me to," Rinoa said embarrassed, wondering if Squall's sister would want her messy scrawl on her plastered arm to look at for months on end. "But that's great... really good news, that you're coming home so soon." She added looking at Ellone; she didn't want to appear to be talking over her, even if she was still woozy and not really aware of what was going on.

Ellone smiled at her, looking a lot more alert than a few moments ago when Rinoa had first walked in.

"I wished they'd just left me drugged up, I hurt too much to be awake," Ellone complained with a grimace.

Rinoa shifted to the side of her chair as Squall sat down on the arm, leaning into her without really meaning to. She didn't want to appear too eager to be near him, not in front of his family. She was still worried about what they thought of her, and since she and Squall had not yet discussed their relationship with each other, she was unwilling to give anything away.

What if Ellone worked out that she liked her bother, and if she didn't approve, Squall might be persuaded to see the same. She wanted to hear what Squall had to say first before anyone else gave their opinion. At least that way she had a fair chance.

"The nurse is coming back soon," Squall said, "But if you need pain meds right now…"

He stopped speaking as Ellone shook her head.

"I'll wait, it's OK as long as it doesn't get any worse."

Rinoa looked at Ellone's hand, there was something taped to the back of it.

"What's that on the back of your hand?"

Ellone looked down as if she hadn't realised there was anything there, she flexed her fingers and her face changed into an expression of disgust.

"Some kind of needle," she said holding it out for Rinoa to see.

As Rinoa leaned forwards for a better look, she brushed against Squall's leg and felt him jump. She tried to be interested in the needle, but her thoughts ran off in another direction. If he'd jumped, then could be just as nervous as she was about when they would be alone. But he obviously felt more confident, as he'd chosen to sit dangerously close.

"Maybe they can give you something through that," Rinoa suggested.

She wondered what would happen if she_ accidentally _touched him again. It was unlikely she'd graze his leg a second time unless she was meaning to, as he'd now moved across to give her more room. He'd know that she'd done it on purpose. He'd move if he disliked it, or felt differently to her… or… he'd stay.

"I'd rather they just take it out," Ellone said, interested in her hand and not in what Rinoa was doing. She missed seeing her bother's confused face, which would have amused her greatly, and made for much later teasing material.

Rinoa sat back, making sure that the top of her arm ran the length of the side of his thigh. Crossing her legs, knowing that he was looking down at her, she folded her hands demurely in her lap. She would have smiled to herself if no one had been there to see.

He had sat on the arm of her chair without really thinking, but had immediately known that he shouldn't have. He saw her cheeks flush red as she struggled to move a respectable distance away. Her fingers twitched nervously without her realising and she interlocked them to keep them still. But it was not the effect he had on Rinoa that worried him, but how being near her changed _him_.

It was almost as if he was buzzing with static electricity, on edge, and not able to concentrate. Her accidental touch shocked him out of his thoughts, as he had temporally forgotten where he was. He had been imagining what he would say to Rinoa once they were alone, and had been running words through his head. Nothing had sounded right. He might have been talking to his sister, but he couldn't command where his thoughts were taking him.

Her intentional touch only made him more impatient. That innocent expression of downcast eyes didn't fool him. She was thinking the same, she just had to be.

Ellone sighed loudly.

"Dad, can't you hurry them up? I want to go home and watch TV. Jake will be here later, and I want to look nice," Ellone complained.

Rinoa wasn't surprised that Ellone wanted to go home; it wasn't the most exciting place to be. Being surrounded by equipment, with weird tubes lining up on the shelf behind, and a needle stuck in your hand, wasn't going to make anyone feel happy.

"Jake isn't going to care what you look like, he's just going to be glad you're alive… like we all were," Laguna said. Clearly his daughter's priories were a mystery to him.

Squall just rolled his eyes.

"I have some lip gloss you can borrow," Rinoa offered, standing and searching in her handbag at the same time. "Um…Is Jake your boyfriend?" She asked, hoping to fill the silence with more conversation. She wasn't too keen about everyone's eyes being on her as she hunted in her bag, unable to find what she was looking for, and getting redder by the second.

Ellone nodded.

"Yeah, it's a long commute into the city from where works," she explained.

Rinoa felt Squall stand closely beside her, she didn't look round, but handed over the sparkly tube.

"Keep it, I've brought other's with me."

Ellone accepted it happily, with one less worry off her mind.

"We should get going, give you some space," Squall said his hand on the small of Rinoa's back.

Rinoa didn't know where to look. It was too obvious to be ignored, and Ellone's sceptical glance spoke volumes. As much as she wanted to leave with Squall, Rinoa felt guilty for taking him away. She hoped that she had made a good enough impression for them not to hold this against her.

"Sure, whatever you say… here's hoping the pain meds knock me out, this place is so boring. No offence dad," Ellone added, excluding his company from what was considered dreary.

Rinoa was surprised at being almost pushed out of the room, it seemed Squall was in a hurry to get away, and this made her excited for what might happen next.

"Rinoa, I…"

Squall was once again interrupted, this time by a doctor, who excused himself to walk around them before going in to see Ellone.

"Let's go outside," Squall said in a rush, before taking her hand and leading the way.

Rinoa felt as if she was no longer in control of her body, her heart was hammering so hard, and her mind was fuzzy. She couldn't think straight. She didn't even know how her legs were even moving, since she had no control over herself. She really needed him to touch her, more than she had ever needed anything. She couldn't understand how a feeling this strong had lain inside of her for so long, muddled and doubtful. She knew what she wanted now, and that was Squall. She just prayed that he felt the same.

They walked out into the sunlight and continued to walk until they rounded the corner and were away from the stream of people coming and going. Rinoa was beginning to feel faint, mixed with a euphoric feeling, and as dizzy as if she'd been drinking too much alcohol. She made no protest as Squall, not very gently, pushed her against the wall.

Squall watched her head hit the brick wall without her control, she stared at him with dark eyes, glazed with what he knew was mirrored in his own.

"I wanted to say… that I really like you," he said, words leaving him without him even realising.

It might not have been poetry, or a decoration of adoring love, but it was no less welcome to Rinoa. Squall saw her eyes spark with the light that caught in them, and her cheeks flushed an endearing pink. Why had it taken them so long to get here? If only he had been brave enough to say something sooner… But it was worth the wait, to bring them both to the point of knowing, that they needed one another.

No doubts now, no uncertainties. They both knew what it was like to fall for someone, without knowing it was returned, and had both made mistakes in order to get here. They had changed together, and for each other.

Rinoa brought Squall closer to her, and closed her eyes as he kissed her. She tangled her fingers into his hair, pressing herself into him. She wished that he would move his hands over her, but he held his arms around her tightly, as if afraid she might disappear.

It might be dangerously public, where anyone might have seen, but Rinoa didn't care. Her love life had never yet been classy, so why start now?


	32. Touch

**A/N**: OK, nice long chapter this time to make up for the wait. All my essays are in now, and there will be no more set until October, Hurrah! So, spare time will now be devoted to updating, as it should be. Thank you to everyone that reviewed!

**Chapter Thirty Two**

Rinoa heard a muffled ringing noise, which couldn't fail to distract her. Regretfully she pushed Squall back and mouthed 'sorry' before opening her bag to search for her phone. Squall watched her for a moment, feeling slightly annoyed that they had been interrupted. But since it hadn't been such a smart idea to be pro-public displays of affection at this moment in time, he attempted to ignore the fact that only a few seconds ago they had been kissing. He informed Rinoa that he was going to try and find a taxi. Rinoa nodded at him to say that she'd understood, and answered the phone. She held it to her ear with a shaking hand, having not yet come to her senses.

"Hel... hello?" she said rather breathlessly.

There was a crackling noise on the other end, and some voices before someone excitedly replied to her.

"Rinoa? You OK?"

It was Selphie, and from the noise in the background it didn't sound like she was on her own. It sounded like a café, as there were clanking of cutlery, and someone guy talking about hotdogs.

"Um...yeah, I'm fine...why?"

"Oh, good! It's just that Squall's sister was on the news, she's been in a car crash right? I just wondered if you were OK."

Rinoa knew she should be grateful that Selphie had been concerned enough to call, but she couldn't help feel irritated that she'd inadvertently interrupted something vitally important. Squall might have said more had they not been shaken back into reality so soon, and she might have found the courage to say something also, but now they would have to start all over again. But having taken a step closer together, it only made Rinoa feel even more nervous. The stakes were higher now, if Squall changed his mind, she'd always know what she was missing.

"I'm fine Selph, so is Squall's sister. She's really nice," Rinoa said, her voice slightly lowered so that she would not be overheard. She didn't know why she was speaking so quietly, but it seemed it was all she could manage, as she was still shaking.

"I'm sensing this isn't a good time to phone..." Selphie said almost apologetically.

Rinoa frowned, was she was being that obvious? Selphie's words immediately made her feel guilty, and she began a tirade of protests which Selphie refused to believe.

"Why are you whispering then?"

"I'm not!" Rinoa refuted loudly as if to prove her point. "It's just..."

Rinoa was distracted by Squall waving her over to a taxi. Rinoa looked around, if Squall's sister had made the news back in Balamb, then she'd surely be on the TV here, and as a result, wouldn't Squall be too? She stood for a moment thinking, she wasn't sure how she would cope if her own face was on a newspaper, as a result of being with Squall and his family. But her worries were not because of vanity... or perhaps vanity _was_ the right word. She had been nervous about Squall's family casting judgement on her, how would she cope if the rest of the country began casting their opinions too. Not that she had encountered anything to fuel her fears, so far, it didn't make it any less worrying.

"I have to go," Rinoa said distractedly, not listening to what Selphie had been saying. Selphie stopped speaking abruptly, as she realised that nothing of what she had just said had been understood by her friend.

"Oh, but...I really need to tell you about..."

"Sorry, I'll call you later," Rinoa promised, although she barely registered what she was saying. She was watching Squall open the taxi door and lean against it as he waited for her to join him. He clearly had no idea that he was doing anything out of the ordinary, but by just being courteous and opening the door, he'd made Rinoa's heart beat faster. Rinoa came to the conclusion in that instant, that good manners were definitely sexy.

Selphie realised that she'd lost her friend's attention, and conceded the conversation. Rinoa didn't hear Selphie saying goodbye, and only realised that her friend had hung up once the dial tone buzzed in her ear.

* * *

Rinoa smiled nervously at Squall as she climbed into the waiting taxi, and fumbled with the seatbelt in order to strap herself in. She sat not knowing where to look, or what to do. Should she try and make conversation? With the driver? With Squall? But what if she said something stupid?

"So, where to?" the taxi driver asked, looking at them via the rear view mirror. Rinoa looked at Squall after feeling his eyes on her. How was she supposed to know? Surely he wasn't expecting her to answer that?

"Um..." she said helplessly.

"The Presidential Palace," Squall answered for them, and the driver nodded and pulled out into the road. "Is that OK?" Squall asked once they were moving.

Rinoa supposed it had to be OK, she didn't know where else to go. But just the sound of the place made her feel jumpy, and coupled with the fact that she was still unsure what was going on, she felt an overwhelming desire to feign sick and hide under a duvet somewhere.

"Your luggage got taken there when we arrived," Squall informed her. "I thought you might want to unpack."

Rinoa couldn't help but be surprised.

"Oh... I'm staying that long?" she asked before she thought about her words. She hadn't expected to stay long enough to unpack.

"Not if you don't want to..." Squall replied, his brow furrowed. Maybe it had been a bit much, dragging her into family problems and then hoping she'd stick around afterwards. It was hardly a holiday... holidays were supposed to be fun. And perhaps throwing her up against a wall hadn't been such a super idea either, he didn't know what had possessed him to do that, that wasn't like him at all. He'd probably scared her now, thinking he was some kind of psycho that dragged woman up alleyways or something.

Rinoa shook her head, and twisted in her seat so that she could face him.

"Oh, I didn't mean that... I want to stay, really." She wasn't sure whether she sounded convincing, probably more desperate if truth be known. Squall nodded at her and then turned to gaze out of the window.

Rinoa sat back in her seat. Again she wished to be brave and to begin a conversation that they desperately needed, but the driver would overhear, and she could barely manage telling Squall her feelings, let alone an audience. She tried to tell herself that Squall must be feeling the same, but wished he'd say something to fill the silence. He usually had something to inform her of, or was reminding her of something, but now that he was strictly off duty he was annoyingly quiet.

Rinoa smiled to herself, thinking about them hiding around the corner, kissing in secret. She felt her self blushing with the memory of it, but didn't bother to turn her head or hide it. Her memory was hers, no one knew what she was thinking of, she was safe for the moment.

Squall watched her from the corner of his eye. Her flushed cheeks and a part of her bottom lip trapped between her teeth. It didn't seem to matter to him any more, about who knew about his admiration of her. It seemed absurd that he should pretend that she was merely someone he was paid to look after, when he would do anything for her, for no payment at all. What did it matter if the taxi driver saw? At the end of the day... why would anyone else care?

Her left hand was resting between them on the seat. Squall looked at the ring she was wearing on her first finger. He'd never noticed that there before. It looked like the kind Ellone would wear as a child, which supposedly changed colour depending on your mood. He hazarded a guess that it was a gift from Selphie. Rinoa didn't look his way, she was staring out of the window, lost for the present in her thoughts.

As if she felt the warmth of his hand before it touched hers, her fingers spread slightly on the car seat before his came to rest on top. Squall watched the surprise on her face, and the flustered turn of her head. She looked down at their hands before she looked up into his face. He saw her eyes filled with surprise before they turned warm, and a smile appeared on her face and her blush brightened. She looked down, and her eyes were hidden by her dark eyelashes.

The taxi driver was about to pull up beside a group of tourists with their cameras, before Squall leant forwards to direct him differently. Rinoa felt the removal of Squall's hand, not as a comfort temporarily removed, but as being wrenched away leaving her hand feeling empty. But she was not brave enough to claim it back. Plus he might not have meant anything by it than a comforting gesture? She could be reading too much into this... then what about the kiss?

"The service entrance if you would," Squall said and the taxi moved past the tourists and continued round through the gates.

"Oh, you're the president's boy... thought I recognised you from somewhere," the driver said looking back through his mirror with surprise. "Only ever see you with that fancy uniform on. TV said your sister is going to make a full recovery... so glad."

Squall replied that he had heard correctly and thanked him for his discretion, meaning subtly that he wasn't to tell the press about his passengers. At some point there would be reporters arriving outside in order to speak to Laguna, the last thing he wanted was to be on their target list also.

* * *

Rinoa followed Squall in through the service entrance of the large building, and tried not to stare around too much. She was used to living in a large house, but this was something else. It was almost like being in a hotel, with an industrial kitchen, which they walked through, stopping at the fridge for orange juice. Then onto the maze of corridors which employees hurried through, greeting them as they went. Rinoa smiled whenever Squall looked her way, and tried not to look too stunned.

Eventually they came to the front of the house, and everything became shiny and immaculately clean, like the marble floor which showed a warped reflection of everything above. A woman with a clipboard, who had been speaking to a group of school children, excused herself out of completing her speech and hurried towards them. Rinoa gave her a nervous smile as the woman looked at her.

"I wasn't expecting you home so soon," she said. Rinoa saw that the gathering of children were watching, eager to know what was happening. Their teacher was also watching, and wasn't in a hurry to move the kids on.

"Doing tours again?" Squall asked, looking past her at the children. The woman sighed.

"No, that's my fan club...it's the latest accessory don't you know," she said jokingly. "Laguna called me about Ellone, I was really worried..." There was a pause as she wondered whether it might be too sore a subject to say anything more on. "Thank the heavens she's alright! ... I ordered some rooms to be made up, for you and Miss Heartilly."

Rinoa was surprised that she had been mentioned. The woman held out her hand to her to shake.

"I'm Lisa, Mr Loire's PA," she said smiling. "You must be Rinoa. I have to introduce myself, because Squall is terrible at introducing people."

Rinoa nodded and smiled. That was the second time that had happened, Squall obviously was not a fan of introducing people.

Lisa smuggled Rinoa away from Squall as if she was going to tell her some secrets, and guided her along the corridor. Rinoa looked over her shoulder to make sure Squall was following, and finding that he was, allowed herself to be guided.

"I gave you the room with the best view," Lisa said, "Your bags are already there, and if there is anything you've forgotten, you just tell me, and I'll sort it for you."

"Um...thanks!"

"You can go wherever you like in the building, there is a pass on your bed which you can show security. Just remember that back there was the public domain, so there will usually be a lot of people around...Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. The guys and girls in there will be happy to make you anything you want to eat, just asked them. Oh and..."

Rinoa could barely keep up with the woman. She was walking and talking so fast that Rinoa felt dizzy, and was sure that nothing that had been said would stay would stick. She hoped that Squall might recap on anything important, because she'd given up on trying to make sense of it all. Having been speed walked to her bedroom, she was then abandoned by the blonde woman with the clipboard, and left standing with Squall. Lisa had forced into her hand a business card with her mobile number on it, just in case she should need something, but Rinoa couldn't imagine calling it. She wouldn't want to call the clearly hectically busy PA for something trivial, like forgetting her toothbrush.

"She talks a lot," Squall said, knowing that Rinoa had been totally shocked by the manor in which she had been greeted here. Ellone would have arranged everything down to the last second of the day, down to the tiniest detail, and probably would have been forcing Rinoa on a grand tour had she been here to welcome her. So, she had gotten off pretty lightly.

"Yeah... I noticed..."

"So... why don't you unpack, and I'll come back in an hour... and we can go to dinner?" To Rinoa he might have sounded confident, but he was shaking inside. He wasn't certain whether she would want to. He wasn't even sure why he had asked that... it was rushing things again perhaps...but they had to eat, nothing wrong in that.

Rinoa looked at her watch. It was later than she thought. She nervously crossed her arms around herself in a hug.

"Yeah, OK," she said.

Squall nodded then began to walk away. He had been hoping she might say something more, but it didn't seem likely. He got halfway towards the stairs when he heard her voice. She sounded as uncertain as he felt.

"Dinner...what like...um...as a date?"

He paused. She'd asked the question at last. Yes he wanted it to be date, but he had wanted Rinoa to decide. His answer now would make or break this uncertain tension between them. Perhaps he should go slow, go as friends... but he'd spent his whole life being cautious. If living with Rinoa had taught him anything, it was that it was OK to make mistakes, and if this all went wrong, at least he'd done what he'd wanted to do. Caution to the wind, who needed it? It was time to start living a life that he wanted.

He stopped walking, and looked over his shoulder. Her hand was holding a lock of hair, and her right leg was bent at the knee, her foot pointing inward in a childlike stance. She made him smile without realising.

"Yes...a date."

He waited for her to say something, but her stunned expression answered him. Her mouth opened but she said nothing. Squall smiled to himself and walked up the stairs. Rinoa collected her wits enough to stumble into her room.

"Oh, er... crikey," she mumbled to herself.


	33. Surprise!

**A/N**: Note at end this time!

**Chapter Thirty Three – Surprise!**

Rinoa grabbed her phone from her bag, and began to explore the room. Her thumb tapped the buttons until she found the number she wanted, and dialled. She held the phone to her ear as she opened the wardrobe and looked inside. There was a bathrobe and some towels inside, the kind that were found in generic hotels. White, plain, nondescript. Her call was answered just as she found the bathroom.

"Hello, dad?" she asked. The background sounded noisy with voices, and Rinoa guessed that she must have caught him at work. She wondered whether or not it was a good time to call, he probably wouldn't have too long to chat, and she regretted not phoning him earlier. She wondered what he was going to say, when she told him that she was no longer in Balamb, where she had permission to be… but on another continent.

"Rinoa… everything alright?"

_Great_, Rinoa thought_, he thinks I'm only calling because I want something_… _well…I kind of do._

"I'm fine. Its just…" she paused, not really knowing how to continue. Bending over the bath, she put the plug into place, and began to run the water. "I was invited to Esthar, you know, where Squall's family lives…and…"

She knew that she had lost her father's attention because he began talking to someone else, answering an urgent question.

"I'm sorry Rinoa, this isn't a good time. As long as you are back in time for school… I'll transfer some more money into your account."

"But…"

"I have to go…just stay safe…" There was a crackling noise and then the line went dead.

Rinoa put her phone down. That hadn't gone too badly, although she had a feeling that her father hadn't really been paying attention to what she said, but she supposed in his mind, if she was with Squall, then everything was OK. Shrugging, she began looking for bubble bath. She found the bathroom to be equally like a hotel, with a guest toothbrush, comb, razor, shampoo and all the other accessories someone could need.

* * *

Rinoa stood in front of the mirror and surveyed her reflection. When she had packed her bags, she hadn't considered the fact that she might be dating. She'd put on the only evening outfit she had brought, an unimaginative black dress. It'd have to do, and in one way she was glad she hadn't had much to choose from in the way of outfits, as that usually brought along a huge dilemma. She looked good, she felt comfortable, and her hair was having a good day. All in all, on the outside, Rinoa looked calm and confident. However her nervous stomach begged to differ.

Squall walked halfway to his bedroom door, then turned and walked back to the mirror. He readjusted his tucked in white shirt. _I look like my dad, _he thought. He un-tucked the shirt and stepped back. Now he looked too casual, maybe tucked in, with no tie? No, the tie had to stay, and he'd have to tuck the shirt in again.

For all that he'd told Rinoa about past girlfriends, which hadn't been much, he'd never really been on that many dates. Dating within Garden seemed to have it's own set of rules, everyone was career minded, and it was universally understood that if you wanted a relationship with someone who was hell bent on becoming a SeeD, you had better be prepared to stand aside for the latest textbook. It was no wonder that no one had ever stuck around long. For Squall getting assignments done had always been first priority. There were only so many times a girl could forgo a romantic meal, for a all night killing spree in the training centre.

Those that formed relationships, that weathered the heavy workload, mostly gave up their careers for marriage and a family, and a less dangerous job. That prospect for Squall had been more frightening than any mission, so he'd shied away from commitment more than most. Dedication to his job had gotten him where he was today, and no one could take that away.

He'd already made up his mind that he was going to take a leaf out of Rinoa's book and begin living the life he denied himself for so long.

Suddenly the idea for taking Rinoa to an expensive restaurant sounded stupid. She wasn't the kind of girl that could be dazzled with money. He'd probably only frighten her off. He suspected she was happy with just one knife, and one fork either side of her plate. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her nervous. Pulling off the tie, and unbuttoning the shirt, Squall reached for his phone and dialled the only person that could get you anything…

"Mr Loire's PA," Lisa answered, busily still surrounded by children.

"Lisa, I need a favour," Squall said walking to his wardrobe and taking out a new selection of clothes.

"Oh really? That didn't take long, you've only been here about…what, five minutes?" she asked sarcastically, "Alright fine, fire away, what might it be?"

* * *

Squall took one last look at his altered reflection. He no longer looked like he was off to a funeral. Instead he's opted for a dark green shirt, no tie, undone top button. He frowned at himself; he'd probably taken longer than Rinoa to get ready tonight, which wasn't something he was going to broadcast. Finally leaving his room, he tried to walk confidently towards Rinoa, but he couldn't ignore that he was feeling light-headed with every step. What if he said something stupid? It was pretty likely that he'd mess things up some how… he contemplated making a detour to a bathroom to splash cold water on his face, but to his surprise he found himself already at his destination.

Raising up a shaking hand, Squall knocked at Rinoa's door and stepped back.

Rinoa's head snapped up, she had been sitting on the end of the bed wondering when, or if, he was going to arrive. With every passing minute, she had let her nerves build, until the clock passed by the anticipated time, and she began wondering whether he was even coming at all. What if he'd changed his mind? Or even worse, forgot? The knock at the door was both welcomed and dreaded. She'd have to leave the safety of waiting for something to happen, and go out and live it. Walking towards the door, she checked her watch, he was only ten minutes late but it had felt like a lifetime. Then again, there hadn't been a specified time…

Squall held his breath as Rinoa opened the door, and her made-up face blushed as she smiled shyly. He didn't know what to say. Telling her that she looked beautiful was too predictable, unoriginal, albeit true. Instead he just stared at her stunned.

"Hi," Rinoa said still smiling, but looking nervous. She turned her clutch bag over in her hands. "Do I look alright?"

"Yes," Squall said quickly, then tried to look more sincere, "I mean…yes, you do…I…"

"Mind my head!" someone shrieked from the stairway.

Rinoa took the break in the awkward situation to step out into the hallway and close the door. She waited next to Squall for whomever it was that had shouted to arrive onto their level.

"I've already been knocked out today, twice! I don't want to be going for a third!"

"Well if you stopped wriggling about…" a male voice replied in order to defended himself of blame. "Don't make me take you back to the hospital for more sedatives."

Ellone appeared at the top of the stairs, carried in the arms of a tall man in a business suit, who looked to be around thirty years old. Rinoa smiled at him when he looked their way. She assumed that he was Ellone's boyfriend, and he conformed to the imaginative portrait she had painted of him.

"Hey!" Ellone said in greeting, her plastered arm held closely to her chest for protection, her free arm wrapped around her boyfriend's neck. "Going out? Yeah I thought so, just abandon me again why don't you. Does that mean that that's your car waiting outside?"

Rinoa raised an eyebrow at the question; it had been asked in such a strange way that it made Rinoa worry. What kind of car _was_ waiting outside? She looked at Squall, who was frowning at his sister as if warning her not to say too much.

"Come on," Squall said to Rinoa, reaching for her hand and dragging her past Ellone and her boyfriend. "Good luck," he added slapping Ellone's boyfriend on the back in a typically male fashion.

Rinoa spotted Ellone's scowl, and her leg waggled as she tried to playfully kick Squall for his comment, but she was soon whisked away, just as Rinoa was equally hurried down the stairs. They went at such a speed that Rinoa was almost running to keep up, the clicking of her heels muffled by the thick carpeted stairs. By the time they reached the lobby Rinoa had run out of breath, she'd be holding it in a mixture of excitement and confusion.

"Wait, Squall…" she said taking a deep gulp of air. She smiled as she realised Squall had no idea that he had been going too fast. It's alright for him, she thought, it's not like he'll ever know what it's like to run in heels. She bent down to readjust a strap on her shoe. "OK, I'm ready."

"I was going to take you out for dinner, in the most expensive restaurant I could find… but I didn't think that was your style…" he said, then opened the doors so that Rinoa could see the car parked outside.

Rinoa stared.

"You thought a stretch limo was more my style?" she said in wonderment. What kind of impression had she given him? Although, she was glad they weren't going to a restaurant where she would have to be on constant guard of her manners. "I totally love it! Do we get champagne?"

She hurried out in front of him, and down to the driver holding the door open for her.

"Wow, this is ace," she exclaimed climbing in. "But major OTT, where are we going?"

Squall climbed in after her.

"Wherever you like."

"I don't know… I don't know what there is to do here."

"Rinoa, this is one of the biggest cities in the world…we got it all. You just name something."

Rinoa shuffled in her seat, she'd never been in a limo before, and the driver seemed a long way away. She tried to think of something fun to do, but couldn't seem to make her brain work.

"Ice skating?" she asked.

The look that that suggestion prompted from Squall dashed that hope, even if she had only been joking.

"OK, OK, I get the point… a less dangerous idea," she said, then putting her index finger on her cheek to show deep thought. "OK, I have it! We have to do get totally wasted, make the driver take the limo through a drive-thru, and then go to an amusement park."

Squall raised an eyebrow.

"That's real classy Rinoa," he said trying to be serious.

"What can I say? I'm a classy girl. Now, come on, let's go!"

* * *

With a glass of ill tasting champagne in one hand, and an alco-pop in the other, Rinoa screeched with laughter as the limo rounded a corner and they were both flung sideways. Not being one for mindless drinking, Squall had to admit that at the moment, the bottles he had already consumed were leaving him with a warm happy feeling where everything was funny, even Rinoa almost being flung onto the floor.

Rinoa didn't think she'd ever heard him laugh so much, even if he was laughing at her.

"Hey, it's not funny, stop it!" she demanded through her own laughter. "And give that back!"

Her hand flailed after the drink Squall had confiscated from her, causing her ungainly camber onto the seat beside him and try to reach the drink held just out of her reach.

"Give it back!"

"How are you even still alive?" Squall asked. "The amount you've drunk would kill a small child."

"I'm not a child."

"Yeah, but you are pretty small…"

Rinoa stopped fighting and stared at him. Was he teasing her? Well two could play at that game. She scooted over to a seat as far away as possible and folded her arms. When he called her back she turned her head away loftily.

"Don't make me come over there," he warned.

Rinoa tried desperately to hide her smile under a mask of indifference, but she knew she was failing. She looked round just to see him leave his seat. She screamed and tried to bat him away. When his hands touched her sides he felt her jolt, and her involuntary squeak gave him pause for thought.

"Oh no, are you ticklish?" he asked.

Rinoa shook her head.

"No… please, I'm really not."

A few seconds later Rinoa couldn't see for the tears streaming down her face, she was laughing so hard that she was in pain. He stopped when she had wiggled so much that she had ended up sat on his lap. The laugher died into awkwardness that not even the giddiness of alcohol could diminish. Rinoa looked into his eyes as she steadied herself. The slight smile on her face falling into parted lips, waiting in anticipation. To her surprise his hand gently rested on the side of her face, and his thumb rubbed away one of her tears. Embarrassed, she rubbed at the other eye with the back of her hand.

"Rinoa," he said quietly, calling her attention back to him.

She could feel herself leaning forwards, as if by looking into his eyes she forgot everything else. She could kiss him now; just lean in a little more. Wasn't that what he wanted? The way he was looking at her told her it was. The way he had said her name had made her catch her breath. She tilted her head slightly, trying to appear inviting. As she moved a fraction closer, her eyes seemed to close of their own accord, and she felt his hand tighten on her waist. With her heart hammering, she knew she was only moments away from bliss. If only the driver would stop hammering on the divide and shouting. At last Squall was called away from the moment, their lips only ghosting over each other.

"Where to now sir?" the driver was asking. A little louder this time in case he hadn't been heard before.

Rinoa slipped off of Squall's lap and reached for her clutch bag, she had a feeling her makeup had not lasted the journey to the other side of town. She needed to be doing something; she couldn't sit in silence after what had nearly happened.

"The first fast food place you see," Squall replied, his eyes never leaving Rinoa.

**

* * *

**

A/N:

Sorry, I couldn't help it! This is by no means the end of their date, and it doesn't continue how it's begun. Ooh, tiny spoiler! Thank you to everyone who reviewed last time; I don't really know what to say… Um, I guess to those that might be interested, this story has got it's ending planned, and sorted already, but the bit that I'm writing at the moment is the most important, so no pressure... Thanks again everyone! 


	34. Rinoa's Questions

**A/N**: Thank you so much for the reviews guys, I'm hoping that this chapter clears up some of the questions you've been asking! Updates should be quicker now because I'm on summer holidays, hooray!

**Rinoa's Questions**

The hysterics wore thin once Rinoa grew tired. She'd reached a state of contentedness, which would have normally ended in curling up and sleeping. Instead, she looked around sleepily as Squall hollered the food order to the woman behind the perspex window. Having lost interest in what they were doing and where they were going, Rinoa let Squall direct the driver, and wondered why he wouldn't let her eat the chips in the car.

They finally stopped, and the driver cut the engine. Squall opened the door for her, and Rinoa stepped out onto the cobbled pavement, and stared over the seawall out into the sea. This was a much better place for a picnic than the back of the limo, and Rinoa smiled, wondering how Squall had known that this would be perfect.

"Wow, look at the moon on the water," she said wandering towards the wall. Stopping, she turned to make sure that Squall was following. "What?" she asked when she saw that he was watching her.

"Nothing," he said looking away. "The food will get cold," he added leading the way to the beach.

Rinoa followed, then stopped and kicked off her shoes before jumping onto the sand. It was soft underfoot, and she staggered a little before finding her balance. Squall saw her stumble from the corner of his eye, and quickly turned back to catch her. But by the time he'd reached her, Rinoa had already righted herself, and he ended up walking with his arm around her waist.

"I'm glad that we are here, it's really pretty," Rinoa said, deciding that they had walked far enough and sitting down. She took her food gratefully, and began to eat. "Have I been alright since we've been here?"

Squall frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Rinoa shrugged.

"You know… I haven't been annoying have I? You didn't have to take me anywhere tonight you know…"

"I know."

This time Rinoa frowned at him.

"I _want_ to be here with you," he added. Squall didn't quite know why she hadn't figured that out yet. But the fact that she'd accepted the idea of a 'date' was the only thing giving him the confidence to speak.

"You do? Why?"

Squall put down his burger in surprise.

"Damn it Rinoa, if it isn't obvious?" he said, annoyed that he was being forced to be honest, why couldn't she just know? "Because I _like_ you OK."

Rinoa let the silence fall between them. She felt as if she should be stunned, but all she felt was relief. She hadn't been imaging things, Squall did like her! It couldn't just because he was confused, shocked into an action he hadn't thought through. No, he had asked her on a date, albeit a rather random and unplanned date, but a date nonetheless.

"Oh, that's good… 'cause I like you also." Rinoa smiled at his surprised, then thankful face.

"What was with the suspense? I took you five minutes to say that."

"You were counting? Aw, that's sweet."

The look Squall gave her suggested that she might be pushing her luck here, teasing him on that would be mean, especially since it was all that she really wanted to hear. Suddenly the burger she was eating seemed a whole lot nicer, and the moon was instantly brighter. The smile on Rinoa's face might be going unseen, but she could feel that it was there.

Swallowing, she tried to push the question away. It could wait, the answer didn't really matter, and yet she could feel the words on the edge of her tongue.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?"

There was a change in the silence, and if tension had a sound, that was it. Either Squall was trying to work out what she meant, or he was wondering how to answer. Either way he was obviously grappling with many different thoughts, and Rinoa realised that her question had been far more complex than she had first thought. For Squall to answer honestly, he was going to have to mention the last person she wanted to think of right now. Rinoa looked out into the sea, and wondered whether she had just killed the mood of the night.

"Because I thought you liked Seifer," he said at last. Rinoa nodded slowly to herself. She had been expecting that, and the name seemed to hang in the air like the vibrations of a bell, only slowly fading away. She couldn't believe she'd wasted time on that guy.

"I did," she said, almost as if she was apologising. "But only because I thought someone like you…" she paused, not quite knowing how to say what she really thought, and at the same time knowing that the best way was the most straightforward. "You're way out of my league."

Squall frowned.

"League?"

Rinoa stared at him, her mouth opened in surprise. She first thought that he was about to disagree, but then realised that he didn't understand what she meant.

"Oh come on," she said indignantly. "You know. You must have cliques at Balamb. Cool kids, smart geeky kids, those that don't fit anywhere…"

Squall thought that her labelling system was a little too clear cut. As far as he was aware, appearances counted for little at Garden. He'd seen many an unassuming person take down someone Rinoa might consider as popular.

"I don't know," he said honestly.

Rinoa smiled knowingly.

"Ah, well that's because you'd be in the cool gang."

Squall smiled also.

"I don't think so."

"_I_ think so," Rinoa disagreed. "Anyway. If you liked me, then you must have hated Seifer. So why didn't you say something?"

The question didn't need explaining, he had been expecting something like that for a while now. He thought that his reasons sounded a little cowardly, but it was best to be honest. After all, he still believed that he had done the right thing.

"Because looking after you was more important," Squall answered quickly. Rinoa could see in his face that he'd already thought about this on his own before. He didn't need prompting from her to examine his past actions. "You were upset, it wouldn't have helped for me to give him another black eye."

"I would have!" Rinoa assured him.

"Not at the time."

"And when he came to Balamb, you didn't say anything then. Ok, I kinda got there first, but he was being really annoying, and mean. But you could have said something."

Squall shook his head. The more questions Rinoa asked, the less afraid he was of answering them. He'd showed too many of his feelings, and had already admitted the truth, that he had nothing left to lose now. She might as well know everything, all his reasoning, even if he didn't feel the same about wanting to know hers.

"There were too many people around. As much as I would have liked to, starting a fight would not have been professional. Plus, I wasn't about to go shouting about your personal life in front of strangers. What happened, happened, I didn't think that you'd want a hundred spectators knowing also."

Rinoa considered this and was thankful. He was right, it would have hurt her to have all those people know about her past, and the stupid mistake that she had made. She hadn't even considered this at the time, but Squall's thoughtfulness made her smile. He was so good to her, always looking out for her best interests, and she hadn't even noticed.

"I didn't think…" she confessed. "Thank you for that." Her grateful smile made Squall want to hold her in his arms, but he had the feeling that she had not yet finished with her questions, and if he interrupted, she might never have another chance like this one to ask.

"I must have really pissed you off sometimes," Rinoa added, her smile turning to a grin.

"Yeah, you did."

"So why did you stay?" She demanded.

"I nearly didn't."

"Oh," she said, she had been hoping for something else, like 'I realised I loved you', but it seemed he was being brutally honest tonight. "But you did though…. why?"

Squall didn't answer straight away, but finished the remainder of his meal. Rinoa waited until the silence stretched too long, and she wondered whether she was going to get an answer at all. She watched Squall crunch up the wrappers in his hands, and began waiting for her answer once again.

"Because of Ellone. She told me to give you the chance you deserved. To let you make your mistakes in your own time, and that it wasn't my job to change you. You changed anyway; I hope that you can see how much. I don't think that I met the real you when I first arrived in Deling City. That Rinoa was only pretend."

Rinoa hadn't been prepared for such a long answer, and it took a while for her to sort it in her mind. She felt it was unlike him to say so much, and to give so much away. He must have been using the break in the conversation to form it in his mind. She also wondered whether he'd said it all now, so that he'd have less questions to answer, she knew she would have. Could it have been Ellone that Squall had been on the phone to so often? It seemed strange that the person responsible for bringing them together had been someone she had only just met.

Ellone must have been taking a big gamble, encouraging her brother to give a second chance to someone she'd never met. But what confused Rinoa the most was his last sentence. That he had not met the real her.

All the time she had been hanging out with Selphie, she had imagined that she was being her true self at last. Someone that went out and had fun, who didn't sit in on a Saturday night, wishing they were doing something other than homework. But perhaps she had been wrong. After all, before she had met Selphie, she had never seen anything wrong in staying home, and working hard. She had changed, and it hadn't been for the better.

Her dad had been right all along. There was a time for partying, and going out, but it didn't have to be now. She had her whole life for that, she'd just been in too much of a hurry.

"You think so?" she asked.

"I think you were led astray by an idea," Squall replied. "I'm not judging you. I might have done to start with, but not anymore."

"I don't suppose you've ever been led astray," she said sadly.

Squall smiled.

"What, except by you?"

Rinoa gave him a mock outraged look, then lay back in the sand. It wasn't long after that, that she felt Squall's hand brush her hair from her face, and he leant over to kiss her. Her feet dug into the sand as she tried to move closer to him, and she wished that the moment might last, but all the time knowing that he would soon pull away and they'd walk back to the car.


	35. Breakfast

**A/N: **Thank you everyone! The story is on the move once more, and once again I have no idea how many chapters are left. I suppose as many as there need to be in order for a realistic ending. Please review!

**Chapter Thirty Five -- Breakfast**

Rinoa stared up at the ceiling, last night still causing her to smile. The same smile seemed to creep down her body, making her fidget and roll over onto her side. Her fingers wrapped around the edge of the pillow before she pressed her face into it, trying to dislodge the grin that wouldn't disappear. Eventually the awareness of a new day came up on her, and she looked over at the closed curtains. The light from the sun was fighting to get through, promising a bright and sunny day. Checking her watch she saw that it was earlier that she had first thought, and she contemplated getting up. She hadn't expected to be awake this early after a late night, and was surprised to find that she wasn't tired. She'd be in time for some breakfast if she hurried.

The hot water of the shower fell on her neck, and she turned so that it might fall across her back. She tried to remember the feel of Squall's lips on her neck, and reached out to hold the wall when she began dizzy with the thought. Switching the water off with more urgency than unusual, Rinoa stepped out opened the window. The steam from the shower began floating out, cooling the room, and clearing her head also. She dressed slowly; choosing clothes for comfort, as after being in the shower her energy had taken a decline. She tried not to think about last night, as it caused time to be lost in unconscious daydreams. Crawling back into bed seemed tempting, but so was the allure of seeing Squall.

Just thinking his name brought back the uncontrolled smile, and she found herself tying her hair back with more care, and reaching for the lip-gloss. Their evening together had finally ended when the clock had shown one in the morning, and they had finally returned to the driver, half asleep in the limo having given up on waiting. Rinoa couldn't remember what they had talked about, or even if there had been any conversation at all on the ride home. But she remembered the goodnight kiss in her bedroom doorway, her heart hammering, wondering what would happen next. But as she had closed her bedroom door, and she stood in the room alone, she knew that there was no other way the evening would have ended. She knew that she was not ready yet for anything more, and neither did she think Squall would suggest it.

Having negotiated her way downstairs, Rinoa realised that she didn't know where she was going. Standing in the lobby, she decided to take a right turn and explore some of the rooms that she had not yet seen. Wandering away from the public areas, Rinoa began to hear snippets of voices, once of which she recognised. Knocking on the pulled-to door, she heard the conversation pause, but no one called her in. Instead of waiting, Rinoa peered around the door and saw that the occupants were all watching the door expectantly. She smiled nervously.

"Morning!" Ellone said breaking the silence. "Come and have some breakfast. We were just deciding what to do today."

Rinoa said nothing, but smiled and took a seat. She reached for the nearest plate and took a pastry filled with little pieces of chocolate, it wasn't something she would have chosen at home, but she was too intimidated to ask for something else.

She looked around at the faces at the table. Ellone still looked pale, her skin drained of all colour, but she looked happy. President Laguna looked in better health that the last time she had seen him, sick with worry, and not knowing what to do to make things better. He gave her a welcoming smile then began discussing something in the morning paper with Ellone's boyfriend.

"Do you think it'll stay sunny all day?" Ellone asked.

Rinoa wondered who she was talking to, and since no one replied she wondered whether it had been to her.

"It looks like it will be," Rinoa said. "What were you thinking of doing today?"

Ellone shrugged.

"Jake has got to go back to work… I was hoping that you and Squall were free."

Her tone was suggestive, hopeful that Rinoa would invite her along with them for the day. But since she hadn't seen Squall, or knew if they had any plans, she couldn't give an answer. Squall might want to do something today, or he might not, he might prefer to be on his own today.

"Um… well I don't think we're going anything today… I mean, I don't think we have any plans."

Rinoa found speaking of her and Squall as 'we' strange, and yet it fell off her tongue easily. She blushed and looked down at the table. Ellone stood and changed chairs so that she was sat nearer to Rinoa, as if she was coming closer in order to share secrets.

"Are you and my brother finally going out now?" she asked in a hushed voice so that the two men wouldn't overhear. Rinoa looked up nervously, wondering if Ellone was happy about the idea.

"Well, I don't really know…" Rinoa confessed. Ellone huffed.

"What do you mean you don't know? You went out last night didn't you? Urgh, Squall can be so useless sometimes. Where is he anyway?"

Rinoa shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Well," Ellone said standing. "Let's go find him. He shouldn't be abandoning you like this."

Rinoa followed quickly, keen not to have Ellone accusing Squall of 'abandoning' her. It hadn't been like that all. He obviously thought that she would want the morning to herself, she had never been much of an early riser back home.

"Oh, no… it's not like that at all!" Rinoa exclaimed as she tried to keep up. For someone who had been in a potentially fatal car accident recently, Ellone could move pretty quickly. But she wouldn't turn back and acknowledge Rinoa's protests.

They found Squall in the garden, drinking coffee and speaking on the phone.

"You're not supposed to be doing work!" Ellone said, her hand on her hip. She cut an imposing figure despite her arm being in a sling. "And why have you left this poor girl to my mercy?"

Squall put his phone on hold and gave her an exasperated look.

"Ellone…" he said wearily. "You know that work doesn't just stop. And if you don't mind…"

He reached a hand out to Rinoa. Ellone shrugged at her, and as Rinoa walked towards Squall, she side stepped them and helped herself to the coffee. To Rinoa's surprise, Squall kissed her forehead.

"Good morning," he said smiling. "She's not bullying you is she?" he asked, looking over her at Ellone.

"No, of course not. You're not really working this morning, are you?"

Squall wrapped his arm around her, and Rinoa found herself copying, by wrapping her arm around him and standing hip-to-hip. She looked up at him with a shy smile, and suddenly didn't mind that he was talking to someone else, just as long as they stayed this close. As the phone call ended, Ellone got there first with the questions.

"So… what was that all about?" she asked. Rinoa noticed that neither of them cared to be very polite to each other, but perhaps that was one of the perks of being siblings, you could cut to the chase without anyone getting offended.

"Clari is back at Garden," Squall replied mainly to Rinoa.

It took a while for Rinoa to place the name, and then she remembered the girl that had been attacked by the monster. She looked down at the ground in shame, she had forgotten her whilst being wrapped up in her own small problems. She was glad that Clari was well enough to return to Balamb Garden, but she wondered why she would want to. Surely being injured like that would make a person think twice? And she had been such a tiny girl, who hadn't looked like a threat to anyone. She must really want to be a SeeD to want to continue training after such a set-back.

"That's really good news," Rinoa said at last.

"Hmm… that's not all," Squall said, watching his sister roll her eyes; she could guess what was about to be said. "The monster that attacked her hasn't proven that easy to study. I need to go back to Garden because someone needs to make a decision about what to do with it."

Rinoa nodded, although she felt as if everything had just sunk two inches. Why did it have to be Squall that decided? Wasn't her father involved in this? Couldn't he do something about it? Squall was supposed to be on holiday. _Some holiday_, Rinoa thought.

"Can't someone else decide?" she asked hopefully.

"No one wants the responsibility."

_That figures_, Rinoa thought, _no one ever does_.

"OK… well I guess I better go pack then…" Rinoa said, her voice sounding deflated. Squall looked at Ellone and she quickly got the hint, made her excuses and went to sit at the other end of the patio.

"I didn't mean that you had to come as well, not if you'd rather stay here. El will take you shopping, or wherever, there is more to do here than at Balamb."

"You don't want me to come?" Rinoa asked, a tinge of panic in her voice.

"I just don't want you being bored. I'll be working and…"

"I won't be bored," she insisted. "Selphie's still there I think, and well… I want to stay with you," Rinoa said, her hold on him growing a little tighter.

Squall looked away as he thought. The problems with the monster would probably take up the majority of his time, and as for Selphie… she should have spoken to Rinoa by now, she had assured him that she would.

"You shouldn't be walking around Garden on your own…" he said to himself. "El!" he shouted after coming to some sort of conclusion. "How would you like to see Balamb?"


	36. Selphie's New Uniform

**A/N**: I typed this chapter during all the breaks in the Wimbledon tennis final today. Did anyone watch it? It was so close at the end!

Thank you for all the reviews guys! Maybe or maybe not what you want to hear, but it's possible that the next chapter will be the last, it just depends how long it takes me to write the ending. I've had the ending planned since the beginning, but it didn't seem to be taking shape until now. But it's hard to say. Again many thanks!!

**Chapter Thirty Six**

Ellone had kept the conversation flowing until Squall thought it was safe to leave Rinoa in her company alone, without either of them feeling uncomfortable. However without her brother there to chip in with small comments, Ellone had run out of things to say, and had taken to staring out of the window at the passing clouds. Rinoa looked through the messages in her phone, wishing that she could think of something to say, but finding that closing her eyes was more appealing. She felt tired, and the whirr of the airship engine blocked out all thoughts. Before she knew it she felt herself dozing.

About half an hour later she heard voices, but she didn't force herself to stir. She listened without comprehending, the voices taking on characters in her imagination, and the words meaning nothing.

"Alright El?"

Ellone looked up from the book she was reading, and moved across the seat so that Squall could sit beside her. She looked over at Rinoa, who had curled her legs up next to herself, and was leaning against the window, using it as a makeshift pillow. Squall followed her eye-line and then looked away.

"She's sweet Squall, I like her," Ellone said.

Squall raised an eyebrow.

"But?" he questioned.

"No but," Ellone replied turning back to her book. She wasn't sure whether Rinoa was really asleep, not that she would be unhappy for Rinoa to hear what she had to say, but Rinoa probably wouldn't want to be talked about. Especially if she thought those talking imagined her asleep.

"You're not convincing me…"

Ellone sighed.

"She doesn't seem the kind of girl to…"

"To what?" Squall asked. He was intrigued to know what Ellone thought about Rinoa, since as his sister he wanted her approval more than anyone's. Plus she had always been more perceptive about feelings and relationships, and Squall often trusted her instincts about people over his own. Not that he had thought for a moment that the two girls wouldn't get along, so it was clearly himself that Ellone had reservations about. He was proved to be right a second later.

"… To put up with you. Now that you've made me say it, don't get in a huff!" Ellone warned. She saw Squall turn to face her, but she didn't look at him. She'd never told Squall her opinions on his work ethic before, not unless she was joking. But if someone didn't say something soon, he might accidentally lose yet another person that cared about him. Just like all the others that had drifted away, fed up with always being second best. Of course she didn't imagine he'd change just because she'd pointed this out, but to be aware could only be a good thing.

Ellone saw his puzzled expression and knew that she'd have to explain. She looked over at Rinoa, and didn't see any reason why even if Rinoa was listening, she shouldn't hear this.

"Just look at what you're doing now, you're flying back to Garden mid-holiday! You're always at their beck and call. Of course I'm happy to spend time getting to know Rinoa, but it's not me she wants to be with, it's you."

Squall was silent. His sister had picked up on the one thing he'd been afraid of. How long could Rinoa put up with his unique job? It wasn't as if he could ever properly relax.

"El you know how difficult it is… but I'll try to be there more. I'll try."

Rinoa walked in the middle of Squall and Ellone as they made their way through the gates and through the Garden. Rinoa once again looked around at the odd set up of walkways over water, and wondered who had dreamt that up. She only paid attention to her immediate surroundings when she realised that they were no longer three, but four. She recognised the new addition as Quistis.

"Welcome back commander," she said saluting. "But seriously, there was really no need. I told Cid that I was happy to make the decision, but Caraway wasn't having it."

Rinoa's attention was caught now. Caraway? Did Quistis mean her father? She suddenly regretted not hammering it into her dad where she was, perhaps he wouldn't have insisted on speaking to Squall if he had known that he was out of the country. But he'd probably known anyway, Rinoa couldn't imagine that the SeeDs would have forgotten to mention it. Unless they weren't allowed to divulge Squall's location? She knew that if there were inquiries at the Galbadian military base, the answer was always that her father was there on the compound, even if he was on annual leave.

"I'll see him straight away," Squall said and Quistis stepped back, awaiting orders. "It might be best if you don't accompany me on this," added to both Rinoa and Ellone.

Rinoa was about to protest, but Ellone touched her arm to stop her.

"We'll go to the cafeteria," she said gently nudging Rinoa in that direction.

Rinoa looked over her shoulder as she walked away, and Squall saw the questioning look in her eyes, but he had no answer for her. All he could do was watch her walk away before following Quistis into what was undoubtedly going to be a hard day.

Rinoa left her suitcase at the entrance of the cafeteria, safely out of the way and joined the queue for food with Ellone. Ellone's case had been left on the airship, and Rinoa had wished she'd done the same now and collected it later, instead of dragging it around and it being a nuisance. But she'd been too afraid it'd be forgotten and the ship would be halfway around the world before she came to look for it. After paying, the two girls looked around for somewhere to sit. Rinoa scanned the room and then froze.

Selphie had been people watching out of boredom, until she realised she'd just met the surprised eyes of her best friend. She hadn't expected her to be back so soon. Slowly she raised her hand in order to wave her friend over. Rinoa walked over slowly, not noticing that she nearly walked into three people along the way. Her eyes were focused only on Selphie's clothes. She was wearing the same dark blue uniform as everyone else at the table.

"Hey, Rinoa… I was going to tell you… well I did try to tell you…" Selphie stopped speaking, stood and held her arms out so that Rinoa could better see her uniform. "Surprise!"

"What the hell Selphie?" Rinoa exclaimed too loudly. Her hysterical voice attracted attention from those around, including Zell who had been enjoying his lunch. He halfway stood from his seat, wondering if he was going to have to get involved in a cafeteria showdown. Sometimes he hated being a teacher.

Selphie smiled nervously at the faces turned towards her, and waited until everyone had declared her uninteresting and returned to their conversations.

"I joined SeeD," Selphie explained.

"I can see that," Rinoa said with disgust. "What were you thinking?"

"Hey!" Selphie said, her hands on her hips. "I joined because I wanted to, OK? And it's not as if you can talk, you're dating the Commander of this Garden, so don't get all 'fighting is bad' and blah blah…"

Rinoa's mouth fell open. She'd never argued with Selphie before, and she was scared that they had just blown a friendship. Now everyone was looking again, all wondering whether Selphie's comment was true.

"Is she _really_ dating Leonhart?" someone with too much lip asked, a smirk on his face as if trying to tell all his friends what he thought of that. Ellone knew that while she was burning with anger at the cheek of the guy, Rinoa's face would be burning with embarrassment.

"Yeah, and I'm his sister," she said loudly, squaring up to the guy. "You got a problem?"

"No," he said in his most uninterested voice, and he returned to face his friends. Some people began to snigger, thinking that this confrontation was delving into the ridiculous.

"She's got a point," Ellone muttered returning back to Rinoa.

Rinoa slammed her tray down on the table, and took a seat, refusing to look at anyone. Ellone set her tray down also, and took the last free chair.

"Everything alright here?" Zell asked on his way back to the queue.

"Go away Zell," Rinoa snapped.

"OK," he said automatically and continued walking.

Selphie watched Zell walk away.

"Rinoa!" she said, not understanding why Rinoa was reacting in such a way. "What is your problem? You should apologise to Zell. Your dad might be still paying him a wage, but that doesn't mean you can treat him like crap. I'm going to my room, come and find me after you've stopped going nuts."

Rinoa knew she should say something, but even she couldn't understand why she had reacted in such a way. She couldn't even look at Selphie, since now that she was beginning to calm down, she was feeling embarrassed by her behaviour. She couldn't look at Ellone either, who probably now thought she was an irrational freak. But instead of turning her back, Ellone took pity. Although Rinoa's reaction might have been uncontrolled, at least it was honest. Life in SeeD was dangerous. She herself often wished that Squall were not a part of it. Under Rinoa's anger would be a under lying fear for her friend's safety, and if her friend stopped to think also, she'd see it too.

"I don't think you offended Zell…" Ellone said gently. Rinoa looked up with teary eyes. "Look, it hasn't put him off his food."

Rinoa smiled weakly, but knew that Ellone was only trying to make her feel better. Standing, she took hold of her tray. Her intention was to join Zell at his table, unless he returned the favour by telling her to get lost.

"I have to go say sorry… you can come too if you like… but I'll understand if you don't want to."


	37. Loose Ends

**A/N**: Ok, so this isn't the final chapter after all. Rejoice! Thank you all for the reviews and support, hope you enjoy the chapter. Please review!

**Chapter Thirty Seven**

"It's multiplying," General Caraway said before there was even a chance to say hello. Squall nodded, he was always happy when people skipped over the unnecessary talk in order to get to the point. He was even gladder today, since General Caraway was the last man he wanted to be making small talk to. Especially since there would soon come a point when he would have to talk about Rinoa. He wasn't sure how recent events were going to be received, so business was a welcome distraction.

"Multiplying?" Squall questioned. He pressed play on the CCTV recording and watched what had been happening since his departure.

"It appears to spawn its own offspring from its self, without the need of a mate," Caraway explained, leaning next to Squall so that he could see the same recording. Squall narrowed his eyes as the monster appeared to be regurgitating its stomach content, only it wasn't food it was expelling, but a miniature version of its self. Squall had never been squeamish, but the images on the screen were making him feel unwell. He looked away.

"How many are there now?" he asked, hoping that the footage would soon run out of gruesome images.

"Five."

Squall stared at Caraway. Five? How were they going to cope with five? One had been hard work; keeping it contained was almost as hard as the T-Rex, so five would be verging on impossible.

"They grow quickly too, it's a matter of hours…" Caraway added, fast-forwarding the tape so that the monster ran around the enclosure, growing bigger with every second. "Commander the view of the Galbadian army is that they should be terminated."

Squall nodded, but he was still staring at the tape. No wonder, Squall thought, that no one had wanted the final say on this. Terminating the monster was going to be a big operation. They still didn't know fully its weaknesses and strengths, and from the injuries it had caused SeeD cadet Clari, they knew that it was capable for large amounts of damage. It was going to be a task for the most experienced SeeDs, and unluckily for him, the majority were elsewhere deployed.

"We have to stall for time," Squall said. He turned to see that both Quistis and Xu were waiting in the background. He felt a portion of the responsibility lift from his shoulders. If there was anyone in this Garden that he could trust to be rational about things, it was those two. "How does it react to magic?"

The question hadn't been to either of them in particular, but it seemed that Quistis had been compiling a file in his absence. She flipped through her papers.

"Any particular magic, Sir?" she asked, but continued to look through the papers until she found the chart. "We've pretty much hit it with everything we've got. It responds to magic attacks, and some are more effective than others as you'd expect. We know that its own defensive spells are very advanced, however it alternates between only two high-level attack spells. We believe that the key to defeating this monster lies in discovering their counter-attacks."

Squall nodded.

"Xu, form a team of the best magic casters we have here in the Garden. I want teams to rotate during the day and throughout the night. Perhaps General, your soldiers can help with this?" Squall asked.

"Certainly," Caraway replied, impressed with how fast things were moving. He knew he had made the right choice now by insisting on speaking to Commander Leonhart.

"Anything that you've got to slow it down… Slows, Drains…Sleep… Just anything you think will help," Squall added.

"Of course Sir," Xu said saluting.

"Quistis, begin calling back anyone that can be spared from the field, I don't want to take any chances."

Quistis nodded, saluted and followed Xu out of the room. Although she had been prepared to take on the responsibility, she had to confess that things always seemed to feel right when Squall gave the orders. Maybe it was because she agreed with what he had ordered, and being the one on the outside looking in, it was easier to be practical about situations. She looked through the glass at the two high-ranking military men, left alone with only the recording of the monster to break the silence.

Rinoa knocked on Selphie's door and waited. Although Selphie had told her to come and find her, Rinoa couldn't help but be worried that she wouldn't be welcomed. Eventually the door opened, and Selphie stepped aside so that Rinoa could go in. She was still wearing the SeeD uniform.

"Calmed down now?" Selphie asked with a touch of sarcasm. "Or are you going to shout at me again?"

Rinoa sat on the end of the bed and stared at her feet.

"I'm really sorry Selphie," she mumbled, then looked up with the same sad expression she had been wearing in the cafeteria. "It's just I wasn't expecting this… why did… just how did this happen?"

Selphie shrugged and then walked to the window. She wasn't really sure why becoming a SeeD seemed so appealing, it certainly wasn't anything she had ever considered before. All she knew was that the moment she had stepped foot in Garden, she had looked at all the students, wearing their uniforms proudly, and had wanted to be a part of that.

"Well… when you left, Seifer went mental…"

Rinoa frowned.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Hey, I'm getting to it!" Selphie said impatiently. "Anyway…he went mental, saying all this stuff about how'd you led him on, and how girls were good for nothing…" Selphie paused as she took a deep breath to steady her voice. "He was just saying stuff because he was angry, but he made me so mad! I suddenly wondered whether he saw me as nothing but Irvine's girlfriend, what if everyone else thought that too? I can't just be someone's girlfriend Rin, I want my own life! SeeD is a chance to prove myself… lets face it Rin, I'm rubbish at school, I'm failing everything."

"But being a SeeD is dangerous…" Rinoa said meekly. She knew she couldn't say too much to Selphie about her reasoning, because she had come to a similar conclusion about herself only a few days ago. She'd had decided what she wanted to do, and it was just like Selphie wanting a chance to join a team and be apart of something, and to be valued. She hadn't told anyone yet, she had been stalling, wondering how things would go with Squall.

"I can't believe Seifer…" Rinoa said shaking her head.

"He didn't mean it, he was just sounding off. He apologised after. But you understand don't you Rin, that I need to do something with my life. This is the best chance someone like me is going to get. I can see the world, and make a difference!"

Rinoa smiled and stood so that she could hug her friend. She understood, and it was time to discuss with Selphie her own choices, and where she intended her life to take her.

In just a day of his absence, Squall noticed that others picking up the work in his absence had hijacked his office. Since he was still officially off duty, Squall wasn't going to evict them. Dealing with the monster was enough for now, and he didn't have any desire to begin looking through new applications for SeeD aid. As far as he was concerned if it was all running smoothly without him, then they could keep it. He much preferred being out in the field than stuck in the office, and a lot of the time he felt as if some of the decisions he was being asked to make, could have been made with a lot more comprehension by someone with more experience. Maybe this was one of the negatives of hanging out with Rinoa, he was beginning to question the responsibility on his shoulders, suddenly wishing for a little less, and a little more fun. No, not a negative, asking questions could never be a negative.

He couldn't remember the time when he had last been on a mission, or when he had not been the one in command. Sometimes he wished he could just join a mission, and when things went wrong, he could look to someone else for the answer. He knew that it would never happen, not in Balamb Garden. To voluntarily step down in rank, he knew that his only choice would to be transfer Gardens. But how could he leave Balamb behind? It was his home, and the institution had been good to him. He nodded at the people in his office, and then turned and left. He didn't want eyes on him whilst he was thinking. If he were lucky the classroom on the second floor would be empty.

Before he could call the elevator, it opened to reveal Ellone. She looked harassed, and her eyes narrowed when she saw him.

"Where have you been?" she snapped. "I had to go to the doctor for more pain meds, and I think one of them may well have been a tranquilliser, because I'm seeing double. But… you missed Rinoa going nuts in the cafeteria. You could have told her that her friend had joined SeeD, I assume you knew."

"I did know," Squall said, his first concern the state his sister had gotten herself into. "Are you OK?"

Ellone shrugged.

"Yeah, just my arm was hurting… Have you sorted your business?"

"Mostly."

"Then you should check on Rinoa, I think she was pretty upset. Seriously, you could have said something to her…"

"Selphie promised she would," Squall said frowning. "Where is she?"

"At the dorms, come on you can walk me there. I expect you'll find her with her friend."


	38. Final Chapter

**Author Note:** At the risk of calling down your wrath readers, this is the final chapter of 'Music Box Doll'. Of course as you have picked up on, there have been a few hints as to where the story may go and unfinished bits of business to been seen to. Essentially the story I set out tell you has ended. What I didn't expect was it to take on a life of it's own and become so complex. As such, beyond this point it was never meant to go.

Because there is some much more I could write about, I think it only fair that 'Music Box Doll—part one' ends at this point. Thank you all for the support, especially from everyone who reviewed. Also thanks for all the faves and alerts. This fic wouldn't have been half as much fun to write without you all, so thank you so much!!

**The Final Chapter**

Knocking on the door he stepped back and waited until it was opened. Selphie answered in her SeeD cadet uniform.

"Oh, hey there," she said smiling, before remembering her recent career choice and saluting. "I mean, hello Sir."

Rinoa looked over Selphie's shoulder with a frown on her face, wondering who had called and interrupted them. Her expression softened into a smile when she saw that it was Squall. There was an awkward silence between them all as Selphie wondered what the best way of escaping might be. She didn't want to in the middle of a conversation between them. The last time she had been in the same room as them, they were all strictly friends. She wasn't sure that she knew how to handle this change, not since Squall had become her superior,

"Are you OK?" Rinoa asked after the silence begun to drag. Squall clearly came here for a reason, but he wasn't being very forthright.

"I'll just go…I got stuff to do…" Selphie said slowly shuffling out of the room and backing out down the corridor. "I'll see ya later."

Rinoa wordlessly invited Squall into the room by opening the door wider.

"So," he said dragging the word out as he walked to the window. "I guess you found out about Selphie. She promised me that she was going to tell you herself… Ellone said you went mental…"

Rinoa smirked; she supposed that Squall wouldn't have chosen the word 'mental' on his own.

"Yeah, I guess I did go a little 'mental' but it's all OK now."

Rinoa wrapped her arms around herself, and bit her lip. Although she no longer felt nervous in Squall's presence, it didn't mean that everything was easy. There were still moments where the silence felt awkward, and this was one of those moments. It was like two people at the start of a good friendship, not having known each other long enough to always think of something to say, but having seen each other too often for polite conversation. All the irrelevant information had already been said.

Rinoa looked past Squall and out of the window. She wondered how she was going to tell him what she wanted to, without stumbling over her words. She had a pretty good guess how Squall would react, but she wasn't sure. Either she was worrying over nothing, or they were going to fall out in the same was she had with Selphie.

"You look like you want to say something," Squall observed, leaning against the window ledge and obscuring Rinoa's view.

"No," Rinoa replied quickly, her nerve failing her when put on the spot. "Well…" she amended after seeing Squall frown, but once again lost her nerve.

"I spoke to you father," Squall ventured, sensing that whatever was on Rinoa's mind, she wasn't ready to talk about it.

"Really?"

"Well, he spoke to me."

"Oh yeah, did he phone?" Rinoa asked. She should have tried harder to contact him again after her first try.

"No, he's here," Squall explained.

"What?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" Rinoa asked.

"Stuff about the monster…"

"Oh…right…cool," Rinoa said. She sat on the bed, tucking her feet backwards underneath. "So, um…What did he say?"

"Well, first he said I should have told him that I was taking you out of the country…"

"But I called him!" Rinoa interrupted angrily. She knew he hadn't been listening.

Squall shrugged.

"It's OK. I think he let me off because he wants me to sort out the monster."

"Oh," Rinoa said. "Yay for the monster then."

"And he said that he's happy if you want to stay," Squall added.

He didn't know why, but he had the impression that they were both stalling for time. The way she kept shuffling her feet, and twitching her fingers spoke volumes to him; that she wasn't comfortable. Every time there was a silence, or a slight pause, he had the sense that Rinoa was taking a deep breath in an attempt to pick up her courage.

He couldn't pretend to be clueless about what she might be worried about. The visit here was only meant to be temporary. They both knew she would have to go home soon, and this time Squall wouldn't be going with her. With their relationship steadily changing into something new, he didn't blame Rinoa for being unwilling to bring up the inevitable.

At some point they would have to talk about her going home, and what would happen next.

"Stay?" Rinoa asked slightly puzzled. Surely her father didn't mean he was giving her permission for time off of school? Especially not with exams fast approaching.

"Until the end of the week."

"Oh. Was that all?" Rinoa asked, not bothering to hide her disappointment.

"Isn't that enough? He knows all about… us," Squall replied awkwardly. "I think I might owe Seifer a favour. Your dad seems to be cool with anyone taking you out, providing it's not him."

He smiled, but Rinoa wasn't impressed. Whatever her father had said to Squall, he wasn't about to tell her. Not that she could imagine that her dad would have any objections. He'd never said anything to her after all, and he had been pretty vocal on her choice of friends before. But what dad in their right mind would warn their daughter off of Squall? He was the most responsible person she had ever met.

"You think?"

"He's not stupid," Squall said with a slight smirk. Rinoa blushed. He father knowing about the way things stood between them, made it all the more real.

"Hey, um do you want to go for a walk?" she asked, standing and moving towards the door. Although she had phrased it as a question, it was clear that Squall wasn't being asked for his preference. Rinoa needed a change of scenery in order to clear her head.

They passed Selphie in the corridor, who looked like she had run out of things to do and was immediately grateful to have her room back.

Lost in her own thoughts, Rinoa followed a few steps behind Squall. Content to pay no attention to where they were going. She only looked up when they stopped in front of the elevator.

"Where are we going?"

"My office," Squall answered calling the elevator. "I thought you might want to see it."

It hadn't been on her agenda, but Rinoa was glad that she was being invited. She didn't know anyone else who had ever been in a Garden Commander's office before. It had to be worth something, right?

Squall's office consisted of multiple filing cabinets, with some of the drawers barely closing. One wall was covered with a large map of the world, covered with different coloured drawing pins. His desk was complete with a computer that Rinoa guessed ran a lot faster than her home PC, being very shiny and minimalist.

"I'm getting a strong work vibe here," Rinoa joked walking to the computer. "Does this thing have games?"

"Yeah, but don't tell anyone OK."

Squall was glad that everyone had decided to vacate his office, obviously realising that with his early return they wouldn't be welcome here anymore. Since there was no one to dismiss, Squall took the chair usually reserved for students and allowed Rinoa to sit in his large office chair.

She gave him a smile, running her hands down the dark leather arms of the chair. Squall thought he better get her out of here soon before she started having a power trip.

"Squall, there is something I wanted to tell you…" Rinoa said, her fingers gripping into the leather. "I've been thinking about it for some time now…"

Squall nodded for her to continue. He felt his heart begin to race. He had no idea what she might say. It could be anything from Selphie joined SeeD so I want to too, to I don't want to see you anymore, let's not bother staying friends.

"I want to be a lawyer," Rinoa blurted out before falling into expectant silence.

Squall felt stunned, mainly because of all the things he had been preparing himself for, this was at the bottom of the list. He couldn't believe that he'd worked himself up into a worried state, only for one of Rinoa's random decisions. No, that wasn't fair. If she said she had been considering this for a long time, then he should treat it seriously. It was obviously important to her, even if it seemingly came out of the blue.

"Why?"

"Squall I want to be something I can be proud of. I don't want to get to the end of my life, look back, and think… I wish I'd done something with it."

Squall frowned. This all seemed a little deep. Exactly when had she been contemplating this?

""But why a lawyer? Rinoa, you don't have to do something you think I'll approve of. You can be whatever you want."

Rinoa sighed in exasperation, as if Squall had just said the most obvious thing in the world.

"But Squall, that's just it. I want you to approve. I want everyone to approve. I want people to say, that Rinoa girl, she did all right for herself in the end. Not because I'm my father's daughter, or someone's wife, or a friend of someone famous. But because I worked hard."

Squall leaned back in his chair. Not only had Rinoa been chewing this over in her mind, she'd also been contemplating what his reactions might be. He didn't know if he should be worried or grateful that she was able to predict him so easily. The frown on her face told him that she was thinking again.

"What if they say you had it easy _because_ you're your father's daughter?" he asked. Choosing a career based on what other people thought didn't seem a good idea to him. Not that he'd chosen his career. It had been more a matter of necessity.

Rinoa's foot tapped on the side of the desk as she thought. Squall could see that she was itching to jump out of the chair and begin pacing the room.

"I'll know the truth. That is what is important," she decided resolutely.

Seeing Rinoa restlessly tapping her foot made Squall want to stretch his own legs. He only got halfway across the room before he had a question for her.

"But why a lawyer?" he asked with a little more disbelief that he intended. He regretted his tone. At no point had he thought Rinoa wasn't capable, or that it was a waste of time. He just hadn't seen any of this coming.

"Because Garden is going to need to employ one!" was Rinoa's immediate answer, with her eyes widened as if it was obvious. "I'm surprised you don't have someone in residence already!"

"No. You can't choose a career based on that."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not living your life, you're doing something that you think will be beneficial to others."

Rinoa scowled at him. Why did he always have to be so damned sensible? Selphie hadn't been half as hard to convince.

"Isn't that what _you_ do?" she asked scathingly.

"Yes. But you're not in the same position as me. I didn't have a choice. You do."

"And I'm choosing to be a lawyer, and I'm going to work for you."

Squall could see that he wasn't going to win this argument, so he tried a different tack.

"OK, and if it goes wrong?"

"Wrong?" Rinoa asked confused.

"If we break up?" Squall explained, trying to make it sound as hypothetical as possible. The last thing he wanted was another argument.

"We wont."

"Say we do…"

Rinoa huffed and folded her arms.

"Fine, if we do… I shall still be a lawyer. I'll still be me. I'll be able to cope in the world on my own. I know you're just trying to help, but you don't understand. I know that I don't need to work. My dad would give me all the money I want for the rest of my life if I asked him. He'd buy my house, my car, send me on holidays, and fund my shopping sprees. But I don't want to be that girl. I want to be yours!"

Squall stared at her. He still hadn't quite gotten used to the fact that Rinoa wanted to be with him. That all seemed to be some kind of dream that sometimes took over his life. Rinoa misinterpreted his silence for him disagreeing.

"Why would you be interested in me if I had not job, no interests, only spent my daddy's money, and hung around in your life all the time? You wouldn't want that… and I don't want that either. I love you, but it's not your responsibility to look after me. It's mine."

Squall's eyebrows twitched into a puzzled frown. In that sentence, had she just told him that she loved him?

"I just wanted to make sure that you had though about it…" Squall mumbled, his mind still far away, debating whether or not he'd just imagined that.

"I have. It's what I want."

Rinoa wondered why Squall had suddenly just gone very quiet. She was even more confused when he declared that he had to go outside for a moment. Standing up, Rinoa watched him leave the room. As the door shut she realised what she had let slip.

"Oh my God!" she gasped, staring at the door.

Squall felt the door shut behind him and leant against the wall. He didn't know why he had freaked out so much. She might not have even meant it. I could have just been one of those things. Who was he trying to convince? No one had ever said they loved him before, so he wasn't so sure what the protocol was here.

He shook his head. There wasn't a script for this sort of thing. Maybe he could forget about it, pretend he hadn't heard. Would they be moving too fast if he didn't?

_Damn it, you'll just have to be honest._

Squall opened the door to find Rinoa on the other side, her hand outstretched as if to open the door also. She looked up at him with a timid expression. Squall's hand seemed frozen on the handle. He had been prepared to find her still in the same position he had left her in, sitting at the desk. Not right here. Not so close.

He stepped closer but Rinoa didn't move.

"Squall, I…"

"Whatever," Squall said before leaning down to kiss her surprised parted lips. "I love you also. Go be a lawyer, see if I care."

"Yes!" Rinoa said excitedly. "You'll visit me all the time OK? And I'll come here every holiday…"

Squall nodded and Rinoa realised that she was wasting time talking, when she should have just been kissing him.

**

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End of Part One…

To find Part Two, head over to 'Turnabout is Fairgame' posted now!


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